We are buying 85 shares of Abbott Laboratories at roughly $113.91 and selling 60 shares of Procter & Gamble at roughly $158.97. Following the trades, Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust will own 360 shares of ABT, increasing its weighting to 1.28% from 0.98%, and 490 shares of PG, decreasing its weighting to 2.46% from 2.75%. We’re making a small swap to add to our newest position in the portfolio. Procter & Gamble is off to a strong start this year, rallying more than 8% off the strength of its much better-than-expected quarterly earnings report . The quarter showed a 4% increase in organic sales, thanks to the consumer staple company’s ability to raise prices on its products while also improving volumes. Easing commodity costs also led to a significant boost to profit margins. We appreciate PG for its quality, consistency, and defensiveness. But after this quick sprint higher, it’s prudent to lock in a sale and take a small gain of about 1% on stock purchased in May 2022. We are reallocating that capital to another high-quality, consistent grower that also shares defensive qualities but may be more underappreciated: Abbott Labs. As we detailed last week when we started a position in this healthcare company, Abbott Labs is firing on all cylinders. The company just wrapped up a year in which organic revenue increased 11.6%, excluding Covid testing sales, with strong growth across all four of its segments: medical devices, nutrition, diagnostics, and established pharmaceuticals. This momentum is expected to continue in 2024, with management forecasting organic sales to grow 8% to 10%. In addition, 2024 could be a strong year for healthcare, especially for a best-of-breed medical device maker like Abbott. GE Healthcare’s upbeat post-earnings conference call on Tuesday strengthened our view. Stay tuned for a full earnings analysis on GEHC later today. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long ABT and PG. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
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