Deutsche Bank AG Purchases 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 grew its holdings in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 325.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,794,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,901,655 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.60% of Geron worth $6,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GERN. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in Geron by 947.6% in the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $38,940,000 after acquiring an additional 9,950,000 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter worth about $24,802,000. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter worth about $21,240,000. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Geron by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $41,019,000 after acquiring an additional 4,549,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Geron by 20.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GERN traded down $0.0350 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.3950. The company had a trading volume of 2,397,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,686,846. Geron Corporation has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $4.8250. The stock has a market cap of $890.04 million, a PE ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $1.37 and its 200 day moving average is $1.59. 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 (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.01. Geron had a negative return on equity of 31.37% and a negative net margin of 53.52%.The firm had revenue of $49.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $47.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5455.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GERN. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.