Abbott (ABT) Stock Moves -0.22%: What You Should Know

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Abbott (ABT) closed the most recent trading day at $117.25, moving -0.22% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.84%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.38%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.38%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs had lost 4.67% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.28%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.96%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Abbott as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Abbott is projected to report earnings of $1.49 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 12.88%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $10.76 billion, up 2.92% from the prior-year quarter.

ABT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.82 per share and revenue of $40.56 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -7.49% and -5.83%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Abbott. 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.24% lower within the past month. Abbott is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Abbott is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.39. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.13.

Investors should also note that ABT has a PEG ratio of 2.32 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. The Medical - Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.89 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Products industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, which puts it in the bottom 28% 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.

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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