Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Geron Corporation has been rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with a mixed outlook of two sells, three holds, and three buys from eight analysts covering the stock.
• The company's average 1-year target price is $3.7857, reflecting the market's optimistic expectations following recent FDA approvals.
• Geron reported a significant revenue increase of 5455.6% year-over-year, with Q2 earnings of ($0.02) per share, surpassing analyst expectations.

Shares of Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.7857.

GERN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began 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.

Geron Price Performance

Geron stock opened at $1.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 6.79 and a current ratio of 7.87. The firm has a market cap of $791.14 million, a P/E ratio of -9.54 and a beta of 0.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $1.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.36. Geron has a 52 week low of $1.09 and a 52 week high of $4.50.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5455.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frisch Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Geron by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Geron in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Geron by 73.8% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 11,074 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geron in the first quarter worth $39,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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