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Has Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of Abbott Laboratories (ABT - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Medical sector should help us answer this question.

Abbott Laboratories is one of 866 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. ABT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABT's full-year earnings has moved 0.79% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, ABT has returned 13.27% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 0.83% on average. This shows that Abbott Laboratories is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, ABT is a member of the Medical - Products industry, which includes 79 individual companies and currently sits at #68 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 14.53% so far this year, so ABT is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to ABT as it looks to continue its solid performance.


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