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Abbott (ABT) Stock Moves -0.57%: What You Should Know

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Abbott (ABT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $107.75, moving -0.57% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.66%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.8%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 1.68% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 3.45% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.22% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from ABT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 21, 2020. In that report, analysts expect ABT to post earnings of $0.90 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 7.14%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.46 billion, up 4.73% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.30 per share and revenue of $33.01 billion, which would represent changes of +1.85% and +3.48%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.89% higher. ABT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note ABT's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 32.82. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 39.74, which means ABT is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, ABT's PEG ratio is currently 2.99. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Products was holding an average PEG ratio of 4.05 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 123, putting it in the top 49% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow ABT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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