Insider Buying: Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) EVP Acquires $24,150.00 in Stock

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) EVP Scott Alan Samuels acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.61 per share, for a total transaction of $24,150.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 26,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,958.02. The trade was a 128.40 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Geron Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GERN opened at $1.68 on Thursday. Geron Co. has a 1-year low of $1.46 and a 1-year high of $5.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $2.86 and a 200 day moving average of $3.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The company had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.29 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley downgraded shares of Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Geron from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.68.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 13.3% during the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in shares of Geron by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 23.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 4,094 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Geron by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,401 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 4,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Geron by 68.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 7,429 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.