Top Health Care Stocks To Check Out This Week
In a world plagued by the coronavirus that is constantly mutating, health care stocks are yet again trending in the stock market. In this climate, with the Omicron variant wreaking havoc, investors could see themselves turning to the likes of vaccines stocks and other health care stocks. After all, many companies were brought into the limelight due to the pandemic as everyone is up to the race to contribute against the virus. There is evidence to suggest that the new variant is spreading at a frightening pace and countries around the globe are starting to take precautions. It has now been detected in dozens of countries, prompting many countries to reimpose travel restrictions and other measures.
Fortunately, health care companies have been working around the clock to create countermeasures against the virus. Recent reports showed that the third dose of Moderna’s (NASDAQ: MRNA) coronavirus vaccine would increase antibody levels against the omicron variant. A 50 microgram dose would incur a 37-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies according to the company. Besides that, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) also claim that the third dose of their vaccine would restore protection to a level similar to the initial two-dose regimen against the original virus. Well, these are all encouraging developments that warrant excitement among investors and the general public alike. Therefore, do you have this list of top health care stocks to watch in the stock market today?
Best Health Care Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] This Week
- Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN)
- Veracyte Inc (NASDAQ: VCYT)
- Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX)
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT)
Cerner
First, we have Cerner, a health care company that is a supplier of health information technology services, devices, and hardware. This includes a range of intelligent solutions and technology-enabled services that support the clinical, financial, and operational needs of organizations. CERN stock soared by more than 10% last week.
This came amid reports of Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) being in talks to acquire Cerner, which has been confirmed today. Oracle will be acquiring Cerner for $95.00 per share, or approximately $28.3 billion in equity value. This would further support the notion of Cerner’s move toward a strategy based on big data, population health management, and consumerism. Hence, moving away from the legacy health record business.
Financially, Cerner has been going from strength to strength. During the third quarter, it reported a revenue of $1.47 billion, up 7% year-over-year. Meanwhile, its adjusted diluted EPS increased by nearly 20% to $0.86. The company’s focus on cash generation is also having a positive impact as shown by a 32% increase in Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow. This is significant as it allowed the company to repurchase $375 million worth of shares for the quarter. With these developments, would you be keeping a close eye on CERN stock right now?
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Veracyte
Following that, we will be looking at the genomic diagnostics company, Veracyte. Put simply, the company utilizes ribonucleic acid (RNA), whole transcriptome sequencing combined with machine learning to produce genomic tests. Over the past week, VCYT stock has been picking up steam. So, let us see what is piquing the interest of investors.
Veracyte announced last week the publication of clinical utility data confirming the ability of the Envisia Genomic Classifier to improve idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis. The findings suggest that the use of the test would increase diagnostic accuracy, physician confidence in diagnosis, and patient referral to appropriate therapy. IPF has historically been a challenging disease to diagnose, so development in this space would be a huge boost.
The company estimates that approximately 200,000 patients each year have unclear results despite following evaluation for suspected interstitial lung diseases in Europe and the U.S. Therefore, the Envisia Genomic Classifier would likely help physicians to make more timely and accurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Ultimately, this could be a breakthrough that would improve patient care. With that in mind, would you consider investing in VCYT stock?
Novavax
Novavax is a clinical-stage vaccine company. In detail, it specializes in recombinant nanoparticle vaccines and adjuvants. By leveraging its recombinant nanoparticle vaccine technology, it produces vaccine candidates to respond to both known and newly emerging diseases. NVAX stock has risen more than 25% just within the past week.
For starters, the company and its partner, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd (SII), announced last week that the WHO has granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for its COVID-19 vaccine with Matrix-M™ adjuvant. This pertains to vaccines manufactured and marketed by SII as COVOVAX™ in India and licensed territories. It appears that an additional EUL filing is under review by the WHO for vaccines to be marketed by Novavax under the brand name Nuvaxovid™.
Furthermore, there are even more positive developments coming from the European Union (EU) according to Reuters. Novavax could start delivering its vaccine shots to the EU as early as Q1 2022. This would be the fifth coronavirus vaccine to be brought to the EU market and would arrive at a time when the Omicron variant continues to spread. Given these considerations, would you buy NVAX stock ahead of time?
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Abbott Laboratories
Last but not least, Abbott is a company that primarily focuses on a diversified line of health care products. Abbott has put science and innovation to work for more than 130 years to create more possibilities for people through the power of health. So, it is not surprising that investors continue to follow the company stock closely. ABT stock has risen by over 20% this year.
Earlier this month, the company announced that its board of directors has yet again increased its quarterly common dividend. This marks the company’s 50th consecutive year of dividend growth. It has now increased to 47 cents per share, a 4.4% increase that follows a 25% increase to the company’s quarterly dividend in 2021.
On top of that, the company also launched Similac 360 Total Care last month. This represents its next generation of infant formula with human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). Besides that, it is also the first and only infant formula in the U.S. with a blend of five different HMOs, previously only found in breast milk. Thus, the formula aims to provide nutrition to support the whole baby’s health and development. Safe to say, Abbott does not appear to be resting on its laurels. All things considered, would you add ABT stock to your portfolio?
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