Aberdeen Group plc Has $5.87 Million Stock Holdings in Geron Corporation $GERN

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly increased its stake in Geron Corporation by 99.9% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,845,468 shares to hold 3,692,753 shares valued at approximately $5.87 million.
• Other large institutional investors like Vanguard and Janus Henderson also increased their holdings, with institutional investors now owning 73.71% of Geron's stock.
• Geron reported a positive quarterly performance, beating earnings expectations with revenues of $49.04 million, which represents a 5455.6% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 99.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,692,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,845,468 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.58% of Geron worth $5,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,146,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $54,293,000 after buying an additional 608,029 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Geron by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,082,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $95,769,000 after acquiring an additional 4,516,615 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,510,114 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $47,826,000 after acquiring an additional 847,710 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,019,000 after acquiring an additional 4,549,031 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 947.6% in the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,940,000 after purchasing an additional 9,950,000 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Geron Stock Performance

Geron stock opened at $1.39 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $886.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 6.79, a current ratio of 7.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Geron Corporation has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $4.8250.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. Geron had a negative net margin of 53.52% and a negative return on equity of 31.37%. The firm had revenue of $49.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $47.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.10) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5455.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank cut shares of Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.19.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GERN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.