Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford says AbbVie (ABBV) remains his firm's Top Pick in Global Pharmaceuticals, followed by Eli Lilly (LLY), Novartis (NVS), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Zoetis (ZTS). The analyst this morning upgraded GSK to Buy from Hold. Holford also remains positive on Roche (RHHBY), Abbott (ABT) and Pfizer (PFE). The analyst's least preferred names are Novo Nordisk (NVO), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Merck (MRK). The Q2 earnings season offers "few clear beat and raise" stories and looks weakest for AstraZeneca (AZN) against preliminary consensus, Holford tells investors in a pre-earnings research note.

Bearish flow noted in AstraZeneca with 3,362 puts trading, or 1.7x expected. Most active are 4/26 weekly 70 puts and May-24 70 calls, with total volume in those strikes near 3,600 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 1.72, while ATM IV is up nearly 2 points on the day. Earnings are expected on April 25th.

Barclays lowered the firm's price target on Zoetis to $230 from $260 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares ahead of the Q1 report. The analyst expects the Q1 reports to provide continuing evidence of improvement in generics and biosimilars for the specialty pharmaceuticals group.

Jefferies analyst Glen Santangelo lowered the firm's price target on Zoetis (ZTS) to $200 from $220 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. Zoetis shares are down year-to-date on several factors, with the two most significant being Librela safety concerns and pending competition launches from Elanco (ELAN), the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm, however, conducted a survey of 35 veterinarians and says the data looks largely positive for Zoetis. While the competitive landscape around key products bears monitoring, the stock's current valuation discount "seems overly punitive," contends Jefferies. The firm believes this "battered expectation level represents an attractive buying opportunity" ahead of the company's Q1 report. Jefferies notes that 100% of the 35 of vets it surveyed are happy, either very or somewhat, with Librela efficacy while 97% were neutral to happy with the safety profile. Meanwhile, 50% of respondents expect osteoarthritis pain scripts to growth 11%-30% in the next two years, the firm adds.

Pfizer announced that the European Commission, or EC, has granted marketing authorization for Emblaveo for the treatment of adult patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections, or cIAI, hospital-acquired pneumonia, or HAP, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, or VAP, and complicated urinary tract infections, or cUTI, including pyelonephritis. It is also indicated for the treatment of infections due to aerobic Gram-negative organisms in adult patients with limited treatment options.