Deutsche Bank AG Buys 2,901,655 Shares of Geron Corporation $GERN

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG significantly increased its holdings in Geron Corporation by 325% in the first quarter, owning approximately 3.79 million shares worth over $6 million by the end of the quarter.
• Geron reported a dramatic 5455.6% increase in revenue year-on-year with earnings of $49.04 million, beating estimates, while it also had a narrower earnings loss of ($0.02) per share.
• Research analysts have mixed views on Geron, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" but recent price targets ranging widely, indicating uncertainty about the stock's future performance.

Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 325.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,794,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,901,655 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.60% of Geron worth $6,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,143,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Geron by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,064,458 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,845,000 after buying an additional 247,018 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Geron by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 61,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 14,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Geron by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 33,147 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 9,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GERN. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Geron in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $4.19.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of GERN traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1.43. 4,227,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,311,594. The stock has a market cap of $912.37 million, a PE ratio of -11.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 7.87, a quick ratio of 6.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.58. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $49.04 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5455.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.10) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current 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.