New Aches and Pains for Abbott

Late yesterday,�a�federal court jury in Marshall, Texas, ordered Abbott (ABT) to pay Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $1.67 billion in damages after concluding that�Abbott�s�arthritis drug Humira infringed on a patent held by Johnson & Johnson.�Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Derrick Sung estimates that Abbott�s stock�might decline by a modest amount, which he variously�figures as�1-2% or�as 2-5%. He also believes that an appeal will likely reduce or overturn the damages, and�maintains�a target price of $53 for�Abbott, $6.18 above�this morning’s price of $47.82. Today, Abbott said that it would, indeed, appeal and asserted that it would owe nothing when a higher court reversed the verdict.