Eversept Partners LP Purchases 1,174,900 Shares of Geron Corporation $GERN

Key Points

• Eversept Partners LP increased its Geron stake by 6.7%, purchasing 1,174,900 shares to own 18.83 million shares, or about 2.94% of the company. Institutional investors collectively hold 73.71% of Geron.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Geron has a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $4.00, while Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock from “sell (d-)” to “sell (e+).”
• Geron shares opened at $1.48, within a 52-week range of $1.04 to $2.01. The company reported quarterly revenue of $51.84 million and an adjusted loss of $0.01 per share, beating analyst expectations.

Eversept Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,834,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,174,900 shares during the quarter. Geron makes up 1.5% of Eversept Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Eversept Partners LP owned about 2.94% of Geron worth $28,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GERN. Soleus Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Geron by 572.5% during the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,757,000 after acquiring an additional 13,740,000 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Geron in the third quarter worth $12,364,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Geron by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 11,367,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620,635 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Geron by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556,160 shares during the period. Finally, RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Geron by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 63,771,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $84,178,000 after purchasing an additional 3,392,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Geron from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.00.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.48 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1.31 and its 200 day moving average is $1.46. The stock has a market cap of $949.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.45 and a beta of 0.60. Geron Corporation has a 1-year low of $1.04 and a 1-year high of $2.01. The company has a current ratio of 6.78, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $51.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.59 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 23.31% and a negative net margin of 35.48%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Geron

Geron Corporation NASDAQ: GERN is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments that target telomerase, an enzyme critical to cancer cell immortality. The company's research is focused on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, with a pipeline designed to address diseases that have historically had limited therapeutic options.

The lead product candidate, imetelstat, is a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor currently in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes.

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