WMT Balance Sheet

a) The most recent balance sheet for Wal-Mart comes from the company's 8-K for the year ended January 31, 2011. The short-term liabilities for Wal-Mart were $58.484 billion. The long-term liabilities were $53.637 billion. Long-term debt is a component of the long-term liabilities and is listed at $43.482 billion.

b) At that point in time, the number of shares outstanding was 3.561 billion. The most recent price per share is $51.96. The market value of the equity in the company therefore is $185.03 billion.

The debt ratio is the total liabilities divided by the total liabilities + equity (aka total assets). This is $112.121 / $180.663 = 62%.

The debt-to-equity ratio is the total liabilities divided by the equity. This is $112.121 / $68.542 = 1.64

I consider these values to be within the acceptable range. They are closer to being too large, however. The company is...
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