Squarepoint Ops LLC Increases Stock Position in Geron Corporation $GERN

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Geron by 157.1% in Q2, buying an additional 2,199,413 shares to hold 3,599,221 shares worth about $5.08 million (≈0.56% ownership) per its Form 13F filing.
• Other institutional investors also added large positions—Soleus Capital bought 13.74M shares (now 16.14M, ~$22.76M) and Vestal Point owns 23.775M shares (~$33.52M)—with institutional ownership totaling 73.71%.
• Geron has a market cap of about $849M; latest quarter showed revenue of $47.23M (missed estimates) and EPS of ($0.03) in line with estimates, and the consensus analyst rating is a Hold with a $2.75 target.

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,599,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 2,199,413 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.56% of Geron worth $5,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Geron by 551.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 78,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 66,294 shares during the period. Exome Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Geron by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 3,414,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,814,000 after acquiring an additional 198,920 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Geron by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 92,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,849 shares in the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 572.5% during the 2nd quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 16,140,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,757,000 after purchasing an additional 13,740,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its position in Geron by 8.0% during the second quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 23,775,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Stock Performance

GERN opened at $1.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $849.01 million, a P/E ratio of -11.08 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 4.87, a current ratio of 5.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.33. Geron Corporation has a 52-week low of $1.04 and a 52-week high of $4.00.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03). Geron had a negative net margin of 43.61% and a negative return on equity of 29.63%. The company had revenue of $47.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.24 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Geron Corporation will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Geron from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.75.

Geron 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.

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