Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer ABT or ISRG?

Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $137.94, indicating a potential upside of 7.95%. Intuitive Surgical has a consensus target price of $611.86, indicating a potential upside of 24.84%. Given Intuitive Surgical's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Intuitive Surgical 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)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84
Intuitive Surgical	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more risk & volatility, ABT or ISRG?

Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to ABT or ISRG?

In the previous week, Intuitive Surgical had 9 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 49 mentions for Intuitive Surgical and 40 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Intuitive Surgical's score of 1.34 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	32 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Intuitive Surgical	41 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, ABT or ISRG?

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
Abbott Laboratories	$41.95B	5.28	$13.40B	$7.65	16.70
Intuitive Surgical	$8.35B	20.90	$2.32B	$6.41	76.46

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ABT or ISRG?

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

Is ABT or ISRG 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
Abbott Laboratories	31.95%	20.74%	11.19%
Intuitive Surgical	27.81%	14.55%	12.88%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ABT or ISRG?

Intuitive Surgical received 107 more outperform votes than Abbott Laboratories when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 69.97% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote while only 68.87% of users gave Intuitive Surgical an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 946 69.97%	Underperform Votes 406 30.03%
Intuitive Surgical	Outperform Votes 1053 68.87%	Underperform Votes 476 31.13%

Summary

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