Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Competitors

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

Which has better earnings and valuation, ABT or NVS?

Novartis has higher revenue and earnings than Abbott Laboratories. Novartis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Abbott Laboratories, 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	$40.33B	4.63	$5.72B	$3.21	33.50
Novartis	$45.44B	4.38	$14.85B	$7.41	13.15

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in ABT or NVS?

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.1% of Novartis shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Novartis shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories received 391 more outperform votes than Novartis when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.60% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 61.42% of users gave Novartis an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 918 69.60%	Underperform Votes 401 30.40%
Novartis	Outperform Votes 527 61.42%	Underperform Votes 331 38.58%

Which has more risk and volatility, ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novartis has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABT or NVS a better dividend stock?

Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Novartis pays an annual dividend of $2.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories pays out 68.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Novartis pays out 32.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Novartis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer ABT or NVS?

In the previous week, Novartis had 22 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Novartis and 22 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.49 beat Novartis' score of 0.37 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	8 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Novartis	15 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer ABT or NVS?

Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus target price of $121.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.99%. Novartis has a consensus target price of $115.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.02%. Given Novartis' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Novartis is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Novartis	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is ABT or NVS more profitable?

Novartis has a net margin of 31.33% compared to Abbott Laboratories' net margin of 13.96%. Novartis' return on equity of 32.15% beat Abbott Laboratories' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Abbott Laboratories	13.96%	20.32%	10.59%
Novartis	31.33%	32.15%	13.59%

Summary

Abbott Laboratories and Novartis tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.