UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,267,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 246,433 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.21% of Geron worth $4,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 11,587,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,019,000 after buying an additional 4,549,031 shares in the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at $173,000. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Geron by 947.6% in the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,940,000 after buying an additional 9,950,000 shares in the last quarter. Shay Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at $125,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter valued at $5,271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company's stock.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.56. The stock had a trading volume of 10,155,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,838,381. Geron Co. has a fifty-two week low of $1.17 and a fifty-two week high of $5.34. The firm has a market cap of $993.59 million, a PE ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $1.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.40.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $39.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.88 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The business's revenue was up 12927.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Geron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $4.00 to $1.50 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Geron from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Geron presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.06.

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.