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Abbott (ABT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Abbott (ABT - Free Report) closed at $109.49, marking a +0.97% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.64% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.65%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.14%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had gained 0.27% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 3.2%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.19%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from ABT as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.36, up 43.16% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $9.91 billion, up 19.18% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.57 per share and revenue of $33.83 billion, which would represent changes of +10.19% and +6.05%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for ABT should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. ABT currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, ABT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 30.41. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 39.41.

Investors should also note that ABT has a PEG ratio of 2.47 right now. 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. Medical - Products stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.65 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 171, putting it in the bottom 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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