J.P. Morgan Decreases PT on Abbott Laboratories to $55 (ABT)

J.P. Morgan is out with its report on Abbott Laboratories ABT, decreasing its PT from $60 to $55. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "Abbott reported in-line 4Q results Wednesday morning. EPS of $1.30 (+10%) was a penny above consensus and our forecast. Revenues of $9.968B were up 13.4% reported, 13.8%cc, and ~2.6% organic. On a reported basis, sales were $78M ahead of the Street and $47M above our forecast. Currency was less of a headwind than we were modeling, as Fx provided a $35M (-40bps) drag compared to the $132M headwind we expected." J.P. Morgan goes on to say, "Down the income statement, operating income came in $26M below our forecast, owing in part to higher R&D spending, but this was offset by Other Income which added $0.017 to the quarter. We are lowering our December 2011 price target to $55 (from $60), owing to incremental pricing pressure across the business, the Similac recall, and challenges from a slower global economy, all of which are impacting the near term growth of the company." Shares of ABT are trading pre-market at $46.54, down 0.45% from yesterday's close.