Morgan Stanley Lowers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Price Target

On Monday, analysts at Morgan Stanley reiterated the overweight rating on shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT and lowered the price target from $87 to $84.

Simeon Gutman highlights the main investor concerns heading into the investor conference on October 14 & 15: decreased capital expenditure, slower SuperCenter expansion, greater capital return to shareholders and international market rationalization.

Gutman finds that expectations for the upcoming conference are more restrained than usual which may be a result of worse than anticipated results over the past 12 months. Gutman stated, “Low end choppiness, higher capex, worries over small store margin dilution, below average buybacks, struggles in key international markets,a costly omni-channel transition, health care expense surprises and management change have all contributed to the uncertainty.”

Shares of Wal-Mart are down roughly two percent YTD.