Morgan Stanley downgrades VMware to Equal Weight, says better position priced in. As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss downgraded VMware to Equal Weight from Overweight after its P/E multiple expanded nearly 50% to be in line with peers, which he believes fully reflects the company's recent fundamental outperformance. The company's "Act 2" categories, including vSAN, NSX and EUC, have reached a scale to meaningfully contribute to growth, but now he sees increased risks, including VMware's high exposure to on-premise infrastructure deployments and its mix of perpetual license revenue, Weiss tells investors. He lowered his price target on the stock to $152 from $175, which Weiss noted incorporates the payment of the $26.81 special dividend per share.
