Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Competitors

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

Is ABT or DXCM more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 32.43% compared to DexCom's net margin of 13.29%. DexCom's return on equity of 30.41% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abbott Laboratories	32.43%	18.32%	10.71%
DexCom	13.29%	30.41%	10.08%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, ABT or DXCM?

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than DexCom. Abbott Laboratories is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DexCom, 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
Abbott Laboratories	$43.11B	5.35	$13.40B	$7.98	16.60
DexCom	$4.30B	7.10	$576.20M	$1.44	54.08

Do analysts recommend ABT or DXCM?

Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus price target of $144.47, indicating a potential upside of 9.08%. DexCom has a consensus price target of $99.89, indicating a potential upside of 28.27%. Given DexCom's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe DexCom is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
DexCom	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.95

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ABT or DXCM?

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of DexCom shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of DexCom shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor ABT or DXCM?

In the previous week, Abbott Laboratories had 13 more articles in the media than DexCom. MarketBeat recorded 60 mentions for Abbott Laboratories and 47 mentions for DexCom. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat DexCom's score of 0.97 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Abbott Laboratories	57 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
DexCom	24 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, ABT or DXCM?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DexCom has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats DexCom on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.