Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 41,372 Shares of Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Geron Co. (NASDAQ:GERN) by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,762 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 41,372 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Geron were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. American Trust acquired a new position in Geron in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Geron by 32.7% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,438 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in Geron in the second quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Geron during the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Institutional investors own 73.71% of the company’s stock.

Geron Price Performance

NASDAQ GERN opened at $4.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.81 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.32. Geron Co. has a 52-week low of $1.64 and a 52-week high of $5.34.

Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $28.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.97 million. Geron had a negative net margin of 682.48% and a negative return on equity of 67.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17138.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Geron Co. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GERN shares. HC Wainwright started coverage on Geron in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Geron to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Geron in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Geron to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Geron in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.05.

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.