Healthcare stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Healthcare Index down 0.9% and the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) shedding 1.1%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 1.2%.
In corporate news, HCA Healthcare (HCA) shares dropped nearly 3% after Barclays downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight and cut its price target to $427 from $496.
Eli Lilly (LLY) is poised to outpace Q2 consensus sales estimates as strong volume uptake of its weight-loss drug Zepbound and Mounjaro diabetes treatment drives franchise performance, RBC said in a note. RBC raised its price target to $1,500 from $1,250. Lilly shares were down 1.5%.
AstraZeneca (AZN) and Daiichi Sankyo are in advanced talks with England's drug pricing regulator to make the breast cancer medicine Enhertu available to some patients, Bloomberg reported. AstraZeneca shares were shedding 1.8%.
Universal Health Services (UHS) shares were down over 3% after Barclays downgraded the company's stock to equal-weight from overweight and adjusted the price target to $179 from $238.