Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, health-care giant Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Abbott's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Abbott facts

Headquarters (founded) Abbott Park, Ill. (1888)
Market Cap $90.2 billion
Industry Pharmaceuticals
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $38.9 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Miles White (since 1999)
CFO Thomas Freyman (since 2001)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 22.8%
Cash/Debt $8.1 billion / $15.4 billion
Dividend Yield 3.6%
Competitors Merck
Roche Holding
Sanofi

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 2,646 members who have rated Abbott believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last month, one of those Fools, toaoyoda, tapped the stock as a special opportunity:

[Abbott] has been a stellar performer for decades but the upcoming splitup will enhance shareholder value even more. The pharma business will be spun off to showcase the greater P/E ratio appropriate to a purer play. Meanwhile, [Abbott's] core businesses of diagnostic, nutrition and medical devices will receive the focus of both management (Miles White will remain with the core) and investors. ... The company has been hit by [manufacturing] problems at individual plants in the past but these are one-off problems and not reflective of the overall [manufacturing] prowess of this company.  

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