Geron Corporation $GERN Stake Raised by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Geron stake by 68.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 4.56 million shares valued at approximately $6.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 73.71% of Geron.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on GERN, with a consensus price target of $4.00; ratings include two Buys, two Holds, and one Sell.
• Geron reported quarterly revenue of $57.48 million, exceeding estimates, but posted an adjusted loss of $0.02 per share versus the expected $0.01 loss. Shares opened at $1.55, within a 52-week range of $1.04 to $2.01.

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 68.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,556,278 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,858,268 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.71% of Geron worth $6,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GERN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Geron by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 392,534 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 8.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,372,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 104,840 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Geron by 8.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 550,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 42,345 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Geron by 4.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 873,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 34,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Geron by 72.3% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 79,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 33,352 shares in the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Geron from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.00.

Geron Trading Up 2.0%

Geron stock opened at $1.55 on Wednesday. Geron Corporation has a 52 week low of $1.04 and a 52 week high of $2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 5.16 and a current ratio of 6.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $995.83 million, a PE ratio of -14.09 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $1.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.48.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). Geron had a negative net margin of 34.17% and a negative return on equity of 24.48%. The business had revenue of $57.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.30 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Geron Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Geron Company Profile

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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