Insider Buying: Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) CEO Acquires 12,500 Shares of Stock

Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) CEO John A. Scarlett purchased 12,500 shares of Geron stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.76 per share, with a total value of $22,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,000. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Geron Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 0.53. Geron Co. has a 12-month low of $1.46 and a 12-month high of $5.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.76.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.04). The business had revenue of $47.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.29 million. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. Equities research analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Geron

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Geron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Fifth Lane Capital LP acquired a new stake in Geron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Geron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on GERN shares. B. Riley downgraded Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $3.50 to $2.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright downgraded Geron from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Geron from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 target price (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.68.

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.