Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ardent Health, Inc. $ARDT

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT) by 31.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 661,512 shares of the company’s stock after selling 307,591 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ardent Health were worth $9,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARDT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ardent Health by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 342,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,683,000 after purchasing an additional 166,483 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardent Health in the second quarter worth approximately $160,000. Creative Planning bought a new stake in shares of Ardent Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardent Health by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 286,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardent Health by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 162,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 60,384 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ARDT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Ardent Health in a research report on Friday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ardent Health from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ardent Health in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Ardent Health from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Ardent Health from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Ardent Health Stock Performance

Shares of Ardent Health stock opened at $8.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 6.06, a P/E/G ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.00. Ardent Health, Inc. has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $17.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Ardent Health had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 19.02%. Ardent Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.850-1.030 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ardent Health, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardent Health Profile

Ardent Health Partners, Inc owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.