Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Downgraded by HC Wainwright to Neutral

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) was downgraded by analysts at HC Wainwright from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on GERN. B. Riley decreased their target price on Geron from $5.50 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Geron from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.91.

Geron Stock Down 30.2 %

Geron stock traded down $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.66. 59,976,342 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,325,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. Geron has a 52-week low of $1.46 and a 52-week high of $5.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 0.53.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. On average, analysts predict that Geron will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GERN. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,268,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Geron by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,538,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,912 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Geron by 28.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,961,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $131,486,000 after purchasing an additional 6,413,204 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Geron by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,082,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,498,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by 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.