Pittsburgh Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC Announces Shareholder Lead Plaintiff Deadline for Walmart (WMT) Shareholders who Purchased Shares during the Class Period of December 8, 2011 and April 20, 2012

PITTSBURGH, June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Notice is hereby given by the Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on behalf of purchasers of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Walmart") (NYSE:WMT) common stock during the period between December 8, 2011 and April 20, 2012 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Alfred G. Yates Jr., Esquire at 1-800-391-5164, toll free, or at [email protected] by e-mail. Please visit http://yatesclassactionlaw.com for more information. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than July 6, 2012.

The complaint charges Walmart and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Walmart operates retail stores in various formats worldwide.

The complaint alleges defendants engaged in unlawful and unethical conduct.  During the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding Walmart's practices with respect to unlawful or unethical conduct.  Specifically, the Company failed to disclose that its executives had been involved in a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme at Walmart's Mexican subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico ("Walmart Latin America").  As a result of defendants' false statements, Walmart's stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $62.48 per share on February 17, 2012.

On April 21, 2012, The New York Times published an article reporting that Walmart had "shut . . . down" an investigation concerning evidence that Walmart Latin America had engaged in "widespread bribery," which included a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million.  The article reported that top executives at Walmart and Walmart Latin America knew about but disregarded the bribery scheme.

As a result of this news, Walmart's stock plummeted $2.91 per share to close at $59.54 per share on April 23, 2012, a decline of nearly 5% on volume of 38 million shares.  The stock dropped again on April 24, 2012, to close at $57.77 per share on volume of 30 million shares, and on April 25, 2012, fell to $57.36 per share on volume of 28 million shares, as investors absorbed this shocking news.

Walmart is now the subject of a probe in Mexico by Mexican authorities and the subject of criminal and congressional investigations in the United States.

According to the complaint, the true facts, which were known by the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, included that the Company had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the bribery payments and that Walmart management did not address ethical concerns in a "timely and effective manner" as represented by defendants.  As a result of defendants' false statements, Walmart stock traded at artificially inflated levels during the Class Period.  However, after the above revelations seeped into the market, the Company's shares were hammered by massive sales, sending them down nearly 5% from their Class Period high.

While Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC did not file the Complaint in this matter, the firm regularly litigates securities cases in courts throughout the United States.

Contact:
Alfred G. Yates, Jr.
(412) 391-5164 or Toll Free: 1(800) 391-5164
website: http://yatesclassactionlaw.com
email: [email protected]

SOURCE Law Office of Alfred G. Yates Jr., PC