Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) Shares Sold by Darwin Global Management Ltd.

Darwin Global Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 56.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,569,835 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,468,938 shares during the quarter. Geron makes up 3.2% of Darwin Global Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Darwin Global Management Ltd.’s holdings in Geron were worth $33,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Geron in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Geron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of GERN stock opened at $1.40 on Tuesday. Geron Co. has a 1-year low of $1.17 and a 1-year high of $5.34. The firm has a market cap of $891.68 million, a PE ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.89. 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 posted 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). The firm had revenue of $47.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. On average, analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GERN. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley lowered shares of Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $3.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Geron from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geron currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

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.