The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price has been a strong mover in the last couple of weeks. This comes as the retail conglomerate has been busy focusing on its sales growth across the business line.
During late afternoon trade, Wesfarmers shares have bounced from negative territory to being flat at $58.
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What's going on with Wesfarmers?
Interestingly, October has been a relatively quiet month for Wesfarmers despite a flurry of announcements in the months prior.
The company recently held its annual general meeting (AGM), which provided some insights on its developments throughout the year.
Briefly summing up the event, Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney noted that despite COVID-19 disruptions, the company continued to increase profits. This predominately came from its diversified business model and management's efforts to keep Bunnings, Kmart and Target stores open.
In addition, Wesfarmers reiterated its all-cash proposal to acquire Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) for $1.55 per share.
Earlier this month, Wesfarmers bought 95.1 million API shares for $1.38 each, representing a 19.3% stake in the company. It noted that it's progressing with due diligence investigations in support of the proposal.
Last week, New Zealand investment bank Jarden, raised its price target for Wesfarmers shares by 1% to $60.60.
Credit Suisse also followed suit, lifting its rating by 0.8% to $60.38 apiece. Based on the current Wesfarmers share price, this implies an upside of around 4.1% on Credit Suisse's latest assessment.
Without a doubt, Wesfarmers is putting its best foot forward by investing in new and emerging opportunities. It continues to maintain a robust balance sheet to provide flexibility to withstand a range of economic outcomes.
Wesfarmers share price snapshot
It's been an interesting 12 months for Wesfarmers shares, travelling on an upwards trajectory before falling short since mid-August. Its shares have risen almost 25% for the period, and are currently up 15% year-to-date.
Based on today's price, Wesfarmers commands a market capitalisation of roughly $65.76 billion and has approximately 1.1 billion shares outstanding.
