UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Initiates Zillow at Equal-Weight on Valuation

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Zillow

with an Equal-weight rating and a $28 price target. Morgan Stanley noted, "We are initiating with an Equal-weight rating and a fair value estimate of $28. Despite our positive view on the company's growth story, we are taking a wait-and-see approach to the company's transition of its monetization model for Premier Agents. … If Zillow is successful in empowering independence among subscribing agents, we believe the best agents will rise to the top and the rest may be marginalized in varying degrees. Therefore, Zillow must grow its value offered to agents in order to justify increased pricing (either on a CPM or volume of contacts / leads basis)." Zillow closed at $26.11 on Friday.