Best Medical Stocks To Follow Today – March 1st

Eli Lilly and Company, UnitedHealth Group, AbbVie, Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, Natera, and Gilead Sciences are the seven Medical stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat’s stock screener tool. Medical stocks are shares in companies that operate within the healthcare industry, including pharmaceutical firms, biotechnology companies, and manufacturers of medical devices. Investors often view them as defensive equities because the demand for healthcare tends to remain steady regardless of economic fluctuations. These companies had the highest dollar trading volume of any Medical stocks within the last several days.

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity.

LLY stock traded up $15.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $920.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,069,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,752,043. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $814.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $849.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $872.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.60, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.42. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $711.40 and a twelve month high of $972.53.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

UNH stock traded up $6.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $474.95. The stock had a trading volume of 6,141,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,997,325. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $516.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $557.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

AbbVie (ABBV)

AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.

ABBV stock traded up $4.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $209.07. The stock had a trading volume of 13,131,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,058,054. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $209.60.

Walmart (WMT)

Walmart Inc. engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.65. 25,437,170 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,829,563. The firm has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $165.23. 12,037,204 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,302,684. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.52. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $168.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Natera (NTRA)

Natera, Inc., a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.

Shares of Natera stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $155.59. 9,859,711 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,616,631. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.40 and a beta of 1.66. Natera has a 1-year low of $83.13 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 4.23.

Gilead Sciences (GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $2.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.31. 12,602,851 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,608,839. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $114.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20.