Lion Point Capital LP Sells 130,000 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Lion Point Capital LP decreased its stake in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 130,000 shares during the period. Geron makes up 9.3% of Lion Point Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Lion Point Capital LP’s holdings in Geron were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Geron in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fifth Lane Capital LP acquired a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in Geron by 26.9% during 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. Finally, Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GERN opened at $1.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $754.75 million, a PE ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.72. Geron Co. has a 52-week low of $1.17 and a 52-week high of $5.34. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. Geron had a negative return on equity of 67.53% and a negative net margin of 682.48%. The company had revenue of $39.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.88 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12927.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Geron from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Geron from $8.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Geron in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.06.

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.