Brokerages Set Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Target Price at $6.93

Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.93.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GERN. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Geron in a report on Friday, June 7th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Geron from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Geron from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Geron from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Geron in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company.

Geron Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:GERN opened at $4.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.67 and a quick ratio of 3.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.13. Geron has a fifty-two week low of $1.64 and a fifty-two week high of $5.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -13.60 and a beta of 0.48.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.01. Geron had a negative net margin of 38,730.00% and a negative return on equity of 68.16%. The firm had revenue of $0.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.15 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Geron will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of Geron stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total transaction of $2,400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 600,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,400,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Faye Feller sold 287,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.63, for a total value of $1,332,977.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John A. Scarlett sold 600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $2,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,562,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,808,004. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Geron by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 24,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 3,650 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Geron by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 132,053 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 5,079 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Geron by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 64,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 7,034 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Geron by 870.0% in the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Geron in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Company 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.