Natixis Makes New Investment in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Natixis purchased a new position in shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,211,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $4,289,000. Natixis owned approximately 0.20% of Geron at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its position in Geron by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter worth $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GERN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5.75.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of Geron stock remained flat at $1.42 during trading hours on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 6,357,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,506,865. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.91. Geron Co. has a 1 year low of $1.17 and a 1 year high of $5.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $904.42 million, a PE ratio of -4.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

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

About Geron

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.