5 Health Care Stocks For Your February 2022 Watchlist
Without question, the global pandemic brought health care stocks to the minds of many investors in the stock market. Nevertheless, investors should find comfort in knowing that the health care sector will remain relevant with or without the pandemic. After all, humanity continues to face a variety of diseases and health conditions. Thus, we will inevitably need health care services at some point in our lives. And companies that address these needs could stand to benefit.
For instance, companies that produce COVID-19 vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) have been performing exceptionally well over the past two years. In its recent fourth-quarter earnings report, Johnson & Johnson saw its earnings per share skyrocket to $1.77, representing an increase of 172.3% year-over-year. The company is optimistic that its COVID-19 vaccine will continue to contribute to its success. So, it should not be surprising that investors are constantly on the lookout for top health care stocks. Here is a list of some of the top names in the stock market now.
Best Health Care Stocks To Watch Before February 2022
- Anthem Inc (NYSE: ANTM)
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT)
- Align Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: ALGN)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO)
- Davita Inc (NYSE: DVA)
Anthem
Anthem is a leading health care company dedicated to improving lives and making healthcare simpler. Through its affiliated companies, Anthem serves more than 117 million people, including more than 45 million within its family of health plans. The company offers a spectrum of network-based managed care plans to individuals, employers, Medicaid, and Medicare markets. ANTM stock has risen more than 45% over the past year.
Yesterday, Anthem announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings. It was yet another strong year for the company as it surpassed many analysts’ estimates on several important metrics. The company’s medical enrollment increased by 2.4 million members year-over-year and 303 thousand members in the fourth quarter to 45.4 million members.
Meanwhile, its adjusted net income was $5.14 per share for the quarter, as compared to $2.54 per share a year ago. Overall, Anthem is confident in its momentum across all its business heading into 2022. With that said, would you consider adding ANTM stock to your watchlist?
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Abbott
Abbott is yet another health care company that reported its fourth-quarter financial update yesterday. For those unaware, this is a company that specializes in a diversified line of health care products. Its products include a line of rhythm management, electrophysiology, vascular and structural heart devices for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes care products. In fact, Abbott recently received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new cardiac mapping system to treat cardiac arrhythmias.
During its fourth quarter, the company reported sales of $11.5 billion, an increase of 7.2% year-over-year. Out of which, $2.3 billion were COVID-19 testing-related sales. Abbott has distributed more than 1.4 billion COVID-19 tests since the onset of the pandemic.
Many would deem 2021 as an outstanding year for the company as it achieved a full-year 2021 GAAP diluted EPS of $3.94, reflecting a growth of 42.7% compared to the prior year. Also, it warned that the Omicron variant would likely drive up treatment, vaccination, and testing costs in the first quarter. With that in mind, should ABT stock warrant more attention in the stock market right now?
Align
Unlike other entries today, Align Technology is a health care company that serves the dental market. In detail, the company designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners and iTero intraoral scanners for dentistry. To complement its Invisalign clear aligners, it has an Imaging Systems and CAD/CAM services segment that provides computer-aided manufacturing software for dental laboratories and dental practitioners. In the world we live in today, the company’s products and services are highly relevant among consumers.
With the company reporting its fourth-quarter earnings soon, investors will be on the lookout if it could maintain its strong momentum from previous quarters. The company’s record third-quarter gained significant traction among investors. Its revenue increased by 38.4% year-over-year to a record $1.02 billion.
Meanwhile, its diluted earnings per share were $2.28 as compared to $1.76 in the previous year’s quarter. Also, the wide adoption of its iTero Scanner can be seen through the 50,000 units installed worldwide. Given these considerations, would you be investing in ALGN stock ahead of its earnings release?
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Thermo Fisher
Thermo Fisher develops, manufactures, and sells a range of health care products. It offers its products and services through various brands such as Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, and Unity Lab Services. The company believes that it will make the world a healthier and safer place by equipping its customers and health care providers with the best-in-class health care solutions.
Thermo Fisher started the year by announcing the acquisition of PeproTech for a total cash purchase price of approximately $1.85 billion. Diving into the details, PeproTech is a provider of bioscience reagents that include cytokines and growth factors. These are mostly used in the development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies.
Hence, it will likely complement Thermo Fisher’s cell culture media products and expand its product offerings and benefits. All things considered, would TMO stock be a top health care stock to watch?
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Davita
To sum up the list, we will be looking at the health care provider, DaVita. The company specializes in kidney care services such as dialysis and related lab services. Its U.S. dialysis business provides kidney dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure. In addition, it has wide international dialysis operations that include over 300 outpatient dialysis centers located in ten countries outside of the U.S.
Last week, DaVita along with nearly 1,000 kidney health care providers announced the launch of 11 value-based care programs across the U.S. The goal of the programs is to help slow the progression of chronic kidney diseases and allow more patients with kidney failures to have access to kidney transplants and dialysis.
With the launch of these programs, DaVita expects to more than double the number of patients receiving integrated kidney care in the first performance year alone. So, could this be a boost for DVA stock long term?
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