Geron Corporation $GERN Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC significantly reduced its stake in Geron Corporation by 69.6%, owning 86,528 shares valued at $134,000 after selling 198,519 shares.
• Analysts gave Geron stock an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $4.19, while Goldman Sachs set a "sell" rating with a price objective of $1.00.
• Geron reported a remarkable 5455.6% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, amounting to $49.04 million, while earnings per share slightly beat analysts' expectations.

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 69.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 198,519 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Geron were worth $134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Forefront Analytics LLC increased its holdings in Geron by 231.0% during the 1st quarter. Forefront Analytics LLC now owns 62,973 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 43,950 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Geron during the 1st quarter valued at about $130,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 516.8% during the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 3,260,934 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732,248 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 99.9% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 3,692,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Geron by 33.0% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 78,289 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 19,426 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of GERN traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1.32. 4,555,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,334,143. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.44. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $1.09 and a fifty-two week high of $4.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $842.18 million, a PE ratio of -10.15 and a beta of 0.63.

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, 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 analyst estimates of $47.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5455.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Geron in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "sell" rating and a $1.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $3.79.

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.