UPDATE: Jefferies Downgrades Bristol-Myers Squibb on Challenges Ahead

In a report published Friday, Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) from Buy to Hold, and lowered the price target from $53.00 to $49.00.

In the report, Jefferies noted, “Rising rate expectations had the expected impact on the sector, which has been driven by income investors over the past two years. Q2'13 earnings look tough in this context and we expect most companies to see some pressure. Novartis, Sanofi, Roche, Abbott, AbbVie and Bayer remain high conviction Buy ideas. We have downgraded Bristol-Myers and Pfizer to Hold in this report as part of our update today.”

Bristol-Myers Squibb closed on Thursday at $46.03.