Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Stock Price

Key Points

• Needham & Company cut Geron’s price target from $4.00 to $2.50 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying roughly 157% upside from the stock’s $0.97 price.
• Geron shares fell 15.6% in Wednesday trading, with unusually high volume; the stock remains near its 12-month low and below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: three analysts rate Geron a buy, two a hold, and one a sell, producing an overall “Hold” consensus and a $2.50 average target price.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $4.00 to $2.50 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective indicates a potential upside of 157.47% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GERN. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Geron from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.50.

Geron Stock Down 15.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GERN traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $0.97. 64,968,271 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,708,182. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 6.91 and a quick ratio of 5.16. Geron has a twelve month low of $0.84 and a twelve month high of $2.01. The company has a market cap of $623.84 million, a PE ratio of -8.77 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $1.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.43.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $57.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.30 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 24.48% and a negative net margin of 34.17%. Research analysts predict that Geron will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Geron during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. LCM Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GTS Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 71.6% in the second quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 23,772 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 9,921 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 122.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 30,028 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Company Profile

Geron Corporation NASDAQ: GERN is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for blood cancers and other serious hematologic diseases. Its lead product, Rytelo (imetelstat), is a telomerase inhibitor designed to target malignant blood-forming cells.

Rytelo is approved in the United States for adults with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes who have transfusion-dependent anemia requiring regular red blood cell transfusions and have not responded adequately to, or are not eligible for, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

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