Algert Global LLC Boosts Stock Position in Geron Corporation $GERN

Key Points

• Algert Global LLC has significantly increased its stake in Geron Corporation by acquiring an additional 2,732,248 shares during the first quarter, raising its total ownership to over 3.26 million shares, valued at approximately $5.18 million.
• Several other institutional investors have also boosted their positions in Geron, resulting in hedge funds and institutional investors owning 73.71% of the company's stock.
• Geron Corporation reported a quarterly revenue of $49.04 million, beating analysts' expectations and marking a substantial year-over-year increase of 5455.6%, although it continues to post negative earnings per share.

Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 516.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,260,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 2,732,248 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC owned 0.51% of Geron worth $5,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its stake in Geron by 947.6% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $38,940,000 after buying an additional 9,950,000 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP acquired a new position in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $24,802,000. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Geron in the fourth quarter valued at $21,240,000. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Geron by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,019,000 after purchasing an additional 4,549,031 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Geron by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,082,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $95,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of GERN stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $1.46. The stock had a trading volume of 5,882,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,012,984. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 7.87 and a quick ratio of 6.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $931.51 million, a P/E ratio of -11.23 and a beta of 0.73. Geron Corporation has a 1 year low of $1.09 and a 1 year high of $4.8250. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.55.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $49.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.30 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 31.37% and a negative net margin of 53.52%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5455.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.10) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GERN shares. Scotiabank downgraded Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Geron in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $1.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.19.

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.