UPDATE: Jefferies & Company Reiterates Hold Rating, Lowers PT on Merck & Co.

In a report published Wednesday, Jefferies & Company reiterated its Hold rating on Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), but lowered its price target from $49.00 to $47.00.

Jefferies & Company noted, “We see Pharmaceuticals as remaining attractive in 2013, but unlikely to return the same level of relative performance as in 2012. Our Top Pick in the US is AbbVie, with Novartis being our most preferred name in Europe. Sanofi, Roche, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers remain high conviction Buy ratings. We continue to point to Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline as our least preferred names.”

Merck & Co. closed on Tuesday at $43.34.