Needham & Company LLC Raises Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) Price Target to $7.00

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $6.00 to $7.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 138.10% from the stock’s previous close.

GERN has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays raised shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Geron in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.25.

Geron Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $2.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.21. Geron has a twelve month low of $1.64 and a twelve month high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.05. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Geron will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geron

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Geron by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 22,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Geron by 3.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 115,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Geron by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 17,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Geron by 13.6% in the third quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 30,674 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,094 shares in the last quarter. 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.