Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Competitors

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, earnings, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the media favor ISRG or ABT?

In the previous week, Intuitive Surgical had 23 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 68 mentions for Intuitive Surgical and 45 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Intuitive Surgical's score of 0.94 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Intuitive Surgical	40 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Abbott Laboratories	40 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ISRG or ABT more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 31.95% compared to Intuitive Surgical's net margin of 27.81%. Abbott Laboratories' return on equity of 20.74% beat Intuitive Surgical's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intuitive Surgical	27.81%	14.55%	12.88%
Abbott Laboratories	31.95%	20.74%	11.19%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ISRG or ABT?

83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Intuitive Surgical shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ISRG or ABT?

Intuitive Surgical received 108 more outperform votes than Abbott Laboratories when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 70.00% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 68.88% of users gave Intuitive Surgical an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Intuitive Surgical	Outperform Votes 1060 68.88%	Underperform Votes 479 31.12%
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 952 70.00%	Underperform Votes 408 30.00%

Which has more risk and volatility, ISRG or ABT?

Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer ISRG or ABT?

Intuitive Surgical currently has a consensus price target of $588.95, suggesting a potential upside of 11.21%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus price target of $142.59, suggesting a potential upside of 6.38%. Given Intuitive Surgical's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Intuitive Surgical is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intuitive Surgical	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ISRG or ABT?

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Intuitive Surgical. Abbott Laboratories is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intuitive Surgical	$8.71B	21.78	$2.32B	$6.82	77.65
Abbott Laboratories	$42.34B	5.51	$13.40B	$7.71	17.39

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats Abbott Laboratories on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.