Morgan Stanley (MS) Jumps On Simultaneous Upgrades

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) are 4 percent higher today after two major Wall Street firms upgraded the stock to Buy - UBS and Credit Suisse.

UBS upgraded shares from Neutral to Buy with a $37 price target, saying the company is nearing a turning point.

UBS said while earnings, ROE, and book growth "will likely still be sluggish in the near term", capital and liquidity positions remain strong and investment banking pipelines are building.

The firm also said management is in the process of re-building the FICC and prime brokerage footprints, and the integration of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney JV appears to be on track.

UBS notes that Morgan remains a work in progress, but the firm said the company has the opportunities for future improvement as most of Morgan Stanley's businesses underperformed over the past 12 months.

Credit Suisse upgraded Morgan Stanley shares to Outperform, saying while Q4 results will be lackluster 2010 represents an inflection point for franchise profitability, operating margins and book-value growth.

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