Abbott’s stock tumbles as outlook weighed by Venezuela

The 52-week high of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is $51.74 and the 52-week low is $39.

Abbott’s fourth-quarter revenue missed the average analyst estimate for the first time in four quarters, due to a strong dollar.

But adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 62¢, coming in just ahead of the 61¢ expectation on The Street.

The transaction will be immediately accretive to Abbott’s ongoing earnings per share upon close and significantly accretive thereafter, with approximately 12-13 cents of accretion in 2017 and more than 20 cents in 2018.* The combination is anticipated to result in annual pre-tax synergies approaching $500 million by 2019 and increasing thereafter, including both sales and operational benefits. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 13th. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $20,148,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Renaissance Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. There are now 11 research brokerages covering the shares which have issued Buy, Hold or Sell recommendations on the name. Company reported revenue of $5.19B. DNB Asset Management now owns 344,376 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $15,465,926 after buying an additional 141,400 shares during the last quarter.

The stock is up 2.48% or $0.91 after the news, hitting $37.62 per share.

Several research firms have commented on ABT.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) made into the market gainers list on Wednesdays trading session with the shares advancing 0.77% or 0.31 points.

Currently, the analyst consensus on Abbott Labs is Moderate Buy and the average price target is $49, representing a 29.5% upside. According to the research note, Leerink Swann Lowers the price target to $46 per share from a prior target of $50.

Abbott Laboratories discovers, develops, manufactures and sells health care products. Its Established Pharmaceutical Products segment offers branded generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency; irritable bowel syndrome; intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms; gynecological disorders; dyslipidemia; hypertension; hypothyroidism; pain, fever, and inflammation; hormone replacement therapy; anti-infective and influenza vaccines; and product that regulates physiological rhythm of the colon. The Nutritional Products includes the sales of diagnostic systems and tests for blood banks, hospitals, commercial laboratories and alternate-care testing sites.