Lazari Capital Management Inc. Has $294,000 Stock Holdings in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Geron were worth $294,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GERN. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Geron by 1,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in Geron by 870.0% in the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Geron in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. American Trust bought a new stake in Geron in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Geron by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. 73.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Andrew J. Grethlein sold 674,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.56, for a total transaction of $3,075,026.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Geron Stock Performance

Shares of GERN stock opened at $4.41 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a current ratio of 3.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.60 and a beta of 0.50. Geron Co. has a 52 week low of $1.64 and a 52 week high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.10). Geron had a negative return on equity of 73.79% and a negative net margin of 15,990.68%. The business had revenue of $0.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.34 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2941.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Geron Co. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GERN has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Geron to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays began coverage on Geron in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Geron in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.06.

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.