UPDATE: Brean Murray Downgrades Pitney Bowes from Buy to Hold

Brean Murray downgraded Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) from Buy to Hold rating and removed its $20 price target.

Brean Murray commented, “We're moving our rating to Hold from Buy as we see balanced risk reward ($10 - $16) for the time being as we wait to 1) get further visibility on macro, 2) see what the impact of slower economic growth is on meter adoption, and 3) see what kind of catalyst Volly can be in late 2012 & early 2013. Recent macro headwinds have become exacerbated since the Mar Q call and since our management meetings on 5/30 and 6/4. PBI's 2012 guidance is predicated on ongoing improvement on meter installs (Mar Q was down mid-single digits vs. Dec Q of double digit declines) – we believe this is less likely with macro softening; we expect FX also to be an additional headwind, albeit less significant.”

Pitney Bowes closed at $13.24 on Monday.