Abbott Laboratories Downgraded by Citi (ABT)

Matthew Dodds of Citi has gone forward with downgrading Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) to Sell with a $52 target. This is based on Abbott appearing to be masking underlying profitability trouble in 2010 with larger accretion from Solvay than forecasted. The Solvay EPS lift should trail off in 2011. With a thin pipeline, this only increases ABT's dependence on Humira, in Dodds’ view.

ABT is trading at $54.55 (-1.76%) since the opening bell today. Shares have been on a steady rise since May 09 when it bottomed out at $41.27