Abbott Laboratories (ABT) engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Vascular Products. The company is a dividend aristocrat which has increased distributions for 39 years in a row. The most recent dividend increase was in February 2011, when the Board of Directors approved a 9.10% increase in the quarterly dividend to 48 cents/share. Abbott’s largest competitors include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi (SNY).
Over the past decade this dividend growth stock has delivered an annualized total return of 3.50% to its loyal shareholders.
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![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VFIM2I8avRw/TwTiz8WGmEI/AAAAAAAADSs/Bkqhnphfpnc/s400/EPS.jpg)
The company has a high return on equity, which has remained above 20%, with the exception of a brief decrease in 2001 and 2006. Rather than focus on absolute values for this indicator, I generally want to see at least a stable return on equity over time.
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![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XwAbK_F9brA/TwThD2mD68I/AAAAAAAADSU/OknyNpECvD8/s400/dps.jpg)
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Full Disclosure: Long ABT
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