Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) CEO John A. Scarlett Acquires 12,500 Shares

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) CEO John A. Scarlett acquired 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.76 per share, with a total value of $22,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Geron Price Performance

NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 0.53. Geron Co. has a 1 year low of $1.46 and a 1 year high of $5.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.73. 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 (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.29 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GERN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Fifth Lane Capital LP acquired a new stake in Geron during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. 73.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Geron from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.68.

Geron Company Profile

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.