Looking at this list, "I love Abbott Labs," says Joe Terranova. "They have a strong balance sheet and lots of cash flow. I think it's a $60 stock. And with its dividend yield I think it's all the more reason to be an owner of Abbott."

The big apple and the hedge-fund haven Greenwich, Conn., were well-represented on the dais. The normally reticent hedge-fund manager Steve Mandel of Lone Pine Capital threw out a passel of stocks that he finds under-valued, including McDonald's (MCD), Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Monsanto (MON), now a biotech leader.

You can expect that the highest-multiple pharma plays -- Celgene (CELG), Abbott (ABT) and Gilead (GILD) -- can go higher.

Healthcare play

Growth

Buy - Price 48.58 on Sept. 29
by Hilliard Lyons

Abbott has agreed to acquire the pharmaceutical unit of Solvay Group (ticker: SOLB.Belgium) for $6.6 billion in cash.…[The purchase] would add more than $3 billion in annual revenue, increasing ABT's pharmaceutical sales base by 18%. About 75% of Solvay's sales are outside U.S., with exposure to faster-growing emerging markets. Overlapping therapeutic areas include cardiovascular-disease, neuroscience, and gastrointestinal products.… Management believes the deal could add 10 cents to 2010 earnings per share, and more than 20 cents by '12.…Our 55 target uses a price/earnings multiple closer to the Standard & Poor's 500, applied to our '10 EPS estimate of $4.20. Market cap: $75 billion.

Undervalued; great company

"Abbott Laboratories (ABT) signed a definitive agreement Monday to acquire the pharmaceuticals business of Belgium's Solvay for $6.6 billion in cash in a bid to expand its presence in Eastern Europe and Asia and emerging markets."

Read more here.

Steady Growth

This drug company stands to increase investor awareness at upcoming medical conferences.

Lacks momentum but has good dividend and high yield

52 week high 1-30 - 07