e trade

Online broker E-Trade Financial Corp. reported third-quarter profits Wednesday that surged eightfold from a year ago due to a hefty tax benefit and increased trading by its customers during a summer of high volatility in the stock markets.

Days after its largest shareholder demanded E-Trade Financial Corp. let shareholders consider proposals including the hiring of new financial advisers to explore options such as selling the company, the online brokerage said Friday that it is bringing in Morgan Stanley & Co. to review its strategic opportunities.

UPGRADES: Citigroup upgrades E*Trade Financial (Nasdaq: ETFC) from Hold to Buy and raised their price target from $1.50 to $2.30.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgrades Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) from Neutral to Buy. The firm raised its price target by 50% from $14 to $21.

UBS upgrades Motorola (NYSE: MOT) from Neutral to Buy. Price target increased from $7.50 to $11.50.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that E*Trade Financial Chief Executive Donald Layton will step down at the end of the year. Mesothelioma Lawyers.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Wednesday upgraded online retail broker E-Trade Financial Corp.'s credit ratings after its newly completed debt exchange, but kept the ratings within junk territory.

Shares of E-Trade Financial Corp. fell for a second day on Friday after the largest shareholder in the online brokerage sold 13.9 million shares and filed a plan to sell more.

UPGRADES: Goldman Sachs upgrades Juniper Networks, Inc.

(Nasdaq: JNPR) from Neutral to Buy and raises their price target from $24 to $29. Click here for some more color on the upgrade.

J.P. Morgan upgrades Con-way (NYSE: CNW) from Neutral to Overweight. Citi upgrades E*TRADE (Nasdaq: ETFC) from Sell to Hold.

Price target increased from $1 to $1.50. RBC and FBR upgrade RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) to Outperform.

E-Trade Financial says it is raising $400 million through a common stock offer and plans to exchange more than $1 billion in outstanding debt.