Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,538,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,088,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Geron worth $118,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in Geron by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. increased its position in Geron by 13.3% during the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of GERN stock opened at $1.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $815.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Geron Co. has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $5.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.21.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The company had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.29 million. On average, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

Geron Profile

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis.