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Abbott (ABT) Stock Declines While Market Improves: Some Information for Investors

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Abbott (ABT - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $88.18, demonstrating a -1.64% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.5%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.31%.

The maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs's shares have seen an increase of 5.59% over the last month, surpassing the Medical sector's gain of 5.49% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.23%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Abbott in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.28, up 1.59% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $12.53 billion, up 12.43% from the year-ago period.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $5.48 per share and a revenue of $50.49 billion, indicating changes of +6.41% and +13.9%, respectively, from the former year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Abbott. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.02% upward. Abbott is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

From a valuation perspective, Abbott is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 16.36. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 17.46.

It is also worth noting that ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.5. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Medical - Products industry stood at 1.59 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 172, putting it in the bottom 30% of all 250+ industries.

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

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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