UBS Group AG Reduces Stake in Geron Corporation $GERN

UBS Group AG reduced its stake in Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) by 57.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,273,705 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,447,402 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.51% of Geron worth $4,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 3,253,960 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,068 shares during the period. Almitas Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter worth $1,296,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 9,527,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556,160 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Geron by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,660,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,844 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Geron during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geron Price Performance

GERN opened at $1.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.44. Geron Corporation has a 12-month low of $1.04 and a 12-month high of $2.01. The company has a current ratio of 6.78, a quick ratio of 4.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $821.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.64 and a beta of 0.68.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Geron had a negative return on equity of 23.31% and a negative net margin of 35.48%.The firm had revenue of $51.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Geron Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GERN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.50.

Geron Profile

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing novel treatments that target telomerase, an enzyme critical to cancer cell immortality. The company’s research is focused on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, with a pipeline designed to address diseases that have historically had limited therapeutic options.

The lead product candidate, imetelstat, is a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor currently in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes.