Updating WAL-MART STORES INC., C.R. BARD INC. and HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $37

Article Excerpt

WAL-MART STORES INC. $49 plans to buy back up to $15 billion of its stock, probably over the next two years. That’s equal to 8% of its $189-billion market cap. Share buybacks lower the number of outstanding shares, which means they raise earnings per share and other per-share calculations. The recession is also helping Wal-Mart attract shoppers who would normally avoid discount stores. Buy. C.R. BARD INC. $74 has raised its dividend by 6.3%, to $0.17 a share from $0.16. The new annual rate of $0.68 yields 0.9%. Buy. HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $37 has formed a marketing alliance with Alcatel-Lucent, a telecom equipment maker. This should make it easier for Hewlett to bundle its computer servers with Alcatel Lucent’s switches and routers and sell these to businesses as discounted bundles. Hewlett feels the deal could generate billions of dollars for it over the next 10 years. Buy. Buy…