Medtronic (MDT) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MDT or ABT?

Medtronic received 653 more outperform votes than Abbott Laboratories when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.61% of users gave Medtronic an outperform vote while only 69.70% of users gave Abbott Laboratories an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Medtronic	Outperform Votes 1587 75.61%	Underperform Votes 512 24.39%
Abbott Laboratories	Outperform Votes 934 69.70%	Underperform Votes 406 30.30%

Does the media favor MDT or ABT?

In the previous week, Medtronic had 8 more articles in the media than Abbott Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Medtronic and 12 mentions for Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Medtronic's score of 0.71 indicating that Abbott Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Medtronic	7 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Abbott Laboratories	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in MDT or ABT?

82.1% of Medtronic shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Medtronic shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer MDT or ABT?

Medtronic presently has a consensus target price of $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.24%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus target price of $130.71, indicating a potential upside of 14.43%. Given Medtronic's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Medtronic is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medtronic	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41
Abbott Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Which has higher earnings & valuation, MDT or ABT?

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Medtronic. Medtronic 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
Medtronic	$33.00B	3.15	$3.68B	$3.27	24.78
Abbott Laboratories	$41.22B	4.81	$5.72B	$3.29	34.72

Is MDT or ABT a better dividend stock?

Medtronic pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Abbott Laboratories pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Medtronic pays out 85.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Abbott Laboratories pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medtronic has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years and Abbott Laboratories has raised its dividend for 53 consecutive years.

Which has more risk & volatility, MDT or ABT?

Medtronic has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MDT or ABT more profitable?

Abbott Laboratories has a net margin of 13.99% compared to Medtronic's net margin of 13.00%. Abbott Laboratories' return on equity of 20.18% beat Medtronic's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medtronic	13.00%	13.79%	7.62%
Abbott Laboratories	13.99%	20.18%	10.84%

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats Medtronic on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.