To find the total number of outstanding shares, follow these steps:
- Go to the balance sheet of the company in question and look in the shareholders' equity section, which is near the bottom of the report.
- Look in the line item for preferred stock. This line refers to a special class of shares that gives investors certain privileges, such as a periodic dividend. ...
- Look in the line item for common stock. This is the main class of stock that is issued to investors. ...
- Look in the line item for treasury stock. This line refers to shares that have been bought back from investors; if the corporation has never done so, then there will ...
- Add together the numbers of preferred and common shares outstanding, and subtract the number of treasury shares. The result is the total number of shares outstanding.
What is the formula for outstanding shares?
What is the Shares Outstanding Formula?
- Examples of Shares Outstanding Formula (With Excel Template) Let’s take an example to understand the calculation of Shares Outstanding in a better manner. ...
- Explanation. ...
- Relevance and Use of Shares Outstanding Formula. ...
- Shares Outstanding Formula Calculator. ...
What does outstanding shares mean in stocks?
- So at any given point in time, outstanding stocks number cannot be higher than the number of authorized shares. ...
- If the company issue all the authorized shares but then need to grant more shares in the future, the company would need to authorize more shares at that point.
- It requires a board and stockholder vote, and then a document to be filed. ...
How to calculate common stock outstanding from a balance sheet?
You can calculate outstanding shares by:
- Finding the company’s total number of preferred stock, common stock outstanding, and treasury stock.
- Add the number of preferred stock and common stock outstanding, then subtract the number of treasury shares from that total.
- Alternatively, you can calculate the weighted average of outstanding shares.
What are common stock outstanding shares?
What are the Outstanding Shares?
- Outstanding Shares vs. Authorized Shares. ...
- Outstanding Shares Formula. How to Provide Attribution? ...
- Two Types of Shares Outstanding. How to Provide Attribution? ...
- Conclusion. ...
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How to find the number of shares outstanding?
This step is relatively straight-forward: simply add together the total number of preferred shares and common shares outstanding, then subtract the number of treasury shares from that total. And voila, this gives you the number of total shares outstanding.
How to calculate total number of shares outstanding?
The balance sheet also indicates that the company keeps 200 shares in its treasury. The total shares outstanding is calculated like this: 600 + 400, then subtract 200. The total number of outstanding shares is 800.
How to find the weighted average of shares?
To calculate the weighted average of outstanding shares, multiply the number of outstanding shares per period by the proportion of the total time covered by each period. This gives you the number of weighted shares for each period. Then, add those terms together to get the weighted average number of outstanding shares.
What is outstanding stock?
Outstanding stocks are the shares that are actually already out on the market. Read on to learn how to calculate outstanding shares. 1.
What is line item description on balance sheet?
On the balance sheet, there is a line item description that states the number of shares outstanding. Take a note of this number too.
What is preferred stock?
Preferred stock is a special class of shares that is generally considered a hybrid instrument, including properties of both a debt and equity instrument. Preferred stocks are higher ranking than common stock, but also subordinate to bonds in terms of claim, or rights to their share of the company’s assets.
Why is it important to know the balance sheet?
The balance sheet is one of the key documents that investors use to evaluate a company, so it’s important to become familiar with it.
How to find number of stocks outstanding?
The number of stocks outstanding is equal to the number of issued shares minus the number of shares held in the company’s treasury. It’s also equal to the float (shares available to the public and excludes any restricted shares, or shares held by company officers or insiders) plus any restricted shares. For example, if a company issues ...
What is outstanding stock?
In contrast, outstanding stocks are the ones already issued in the market.
What happens to stocks when a company completes a share buyback?
Conversely, stocks outstanding will decrease if a firm completes a share buyback or a reverse stock split (consolidation of a corporation’s shares according to a predetermined ratio). Buyback is the repurchase of its shares by the company. It decreases the number of outstanding stocks in the public and increases the treasury shares amount.
How many shares does Company A have?
Company A has issued 25,800 shares and has offered 2,000 shares to two partners, and has retained 5,500 stocks in the treasury Stocks In The Treasury Treasury Stock is a stock repurchased by the issuance Company from its current shareholders that remains non-retired. Moreover, it is not considered while calculating the Company’s Earnings Per Share or dividends. read more.
What does it mean when a company has a higher number of stocks?
A higher number of stocks outstanding means a more stable company given greater price stability as that it takes many more shares traded to create a significant movement in the stock price. Contrary to this, the stock with a much lower number of outstanding stocks could be more vulnerable to price manipulation, requiring much fewer shares to be traded up or down to move the stock price.
Why do companies issue more shares than they issue?
Generally, the company authorizes more shares than the actual issuance size. The key reason for it is efficiency and practicality. If the company issue all the authorized shares but then need to grant more shares in the future, the company would need to authorize more shares at that point.
What is a stock split?
Stock Split Stock split, also known as share split, is the process by which companies divide their existing outstanding shares into multiple shares, such as 3 shares for every 1 owned, 2 shares for every 1 held, and so on.
What is outstanding stock?
What are Outstanding Shares? Outstanding shares represent the number of a company’s shares that are traded on the secondary market and, therefore, available to investors. Outstanding shares include all restricted shares.
How to find floating shares?
The number of floating shares is found by taking the number of shares outstanding minus closely-held shares – a large number of shares that are held by one party, be it an individual or a small group of controlling shareholders, such as officers or directors of the company.
What is the right of a common stockholder?
Shareholders of common stock typically possess the right to participate in annual shareholders meetings and contribute toward the election of the company’s board of directors. The number of shares outstanding increases when a company issues additional shares or when employees exercise stock options.
What is a stock warrant?
Stock Warrants Stock warrants are options issued by a company that trade on an exchange and give investors the right (but not obligation) to purchase company stock at a specific price within a specified time period.
What is authorized stock?
Authorized Shares Authorized shares, or authorized stock, are simply a legally allowed maximum number of shares that a company can issue to investors. The number of authorized shares is specified in the company’s articles of incorporation. You can also see the number in the capital accounts. Market Capitalization.
What is reacquired stock?
Treasury Stock Treasury stock, or reacquired stock, is a portion of previously issued, outstanding shares of stock which a company has repurchased or bought back from shareholders. These reacquired shares are then held by the company for its own disposition.
What happens when an investor exercises a warrant?
When an investor exercises a warrant, they purchase the stock, and the proceeds are a source of capital for the company. , options, preferred shares, etc.). Therefore, if a company owns any diluting securities, that would indicate a potential increase in the number of shares outstanding in the future.
What is the share outstanding formula?
What is the Shares Outstanding Formula? The term “shares outstanding” of a business refers to the number of authorized shares that are being either held by the promoters of the company or sold to the public shareholders while excluding the number of treasury stocks that have been bought back by the company itself.
How many common stock does a company have in 2018?
According to the balance sheet for the year 2018, the company has 5.0 million authorized common stock and 1.0 million authorized preferred stock, out of which it has issued 3.5 million common stock and 0.7 million preferred stock. During 2018, the company repurchased 0.3 million common stocks and 0.1 million preferred stocks.
How many shares of common stock did Walmart have in 2016?
Let us take the example of Walmart Inc.’s financial for the year 2016. The opening number of issued common stock for the year was 3,228 million, while the company repurchased 66 million stock during the year. Based on the given information, Calculate the number of shares outstanding of Walmart Inc. at the end of the year 2016.
How many shares of Apple stock were issued in 2016?
Let us take the example of Apple Inc.’ to explain slightly different kinds of calculations. During 2016, the company repurchased 279.61 million common stock and issued fresh 37.02 million common stock. Calculate the number of shares outstanding of Apple Inc. at the end of the year 2016 if the opening number of issued common stock for the year was 5,578.75 million.
Does the number of shares outstanding increase with the issue of new shares and stock split?
The number of shares outstanding increases with the issue of new shares and stock split, while it decreases with share re-purchase and reverses split.
Is shares outstanding a subset of authorized stock?
Please don’t confuse shares outstanding with authorized stock and issued stock as they are completely different, and shares outstanding is a subset of both authorized stock and issued stock.
What is outstanding stock?
Outstanding shares: The total number of shares that are currently available to be bought and sold, as well as shares held by institutions and insiders.
What does the number of shares of common stock mean?
The number of shares of common stock outstanding is a metric that tells us how many shares of a company are currently owned by investors. This can often be found in a company's financial statements, but is not always readily available -- rather, you may see terms like "issued shares" and "treasury shares" instead.
What is an issued share?
Issued shares: The total number of shares a company has ever issued. This includes shares that were made available to be bought and sold by the public, as well as shares bought by or issued to company insiders and institutional investors.
What is Treasury Shares?
Treasury shares: Shares that a company has bought back and are held in the company's treasury.
What is float stock?
Float: The shares that are currently available to be bought and sold by the public.
How many shares of Johnson and Johnson were issued in 2014?
Next, 336,620,000 shares were held in the company's treasury at that time, so subtracting this from the number of issued shares means that Johnson & Johnson had 2,783,223,000 outstanding shares at the end of 2014.
Why is it important to look at the number of outstanding shares?
But it’s important to look at the number of outstanding shares to know how many more shares could possibly enter the market. Company insiders could sell their shares as they become unrestricted.
What does outstanding share tell you?
But shares outstanding can tell you important information about the number of shares that a company can possibly sell into the market. That’s why it’s important to know the difference and what’s included in these numbers.
Why do penny stocks have billions of shares?
Sometimes these companies can have billions of shares outstanding because they dilute shares to raise capital through financings.
How many shares of a penny stock company are there?
Penny stock companies can have hundreds of millions or even billions of shares outstanding.
How does toxic financing affect stock price?
That’s why offerings and dilution through toxic financing can have such a huge impact on a stock’s price. When the float becomes larger as these shares enter the market, each share becomes worth less. And it takes more demand to drive a stock’s price higher.
What is market cap divided by?
The company’s market cap divided by the current share price equals shares outstanding.
What is market cap?
Market cap is a company’s value based on the share price and the number of shares outstanding.
What is the number of outstanding shares?
The number of outstanding shares is used in calculating key metrics such as a company’s market capitalization, as well as its earnings per share (EPS) and cash flow per share (CFPS). A company's number of outstanding shares is not static and may fluctuate wildly over time.
Why do companies issue outstanding shares?
Companies typically issue shares when they raise capital through an equity financing, or upon exercising employee stock options (ESO) or other financial instruments. Outstanding shares will decrease if the company buys back its shares under a share repurchase program.
What happens when a company considers its stock to be undervalued?
Often times, if a company considers its stock to be undervalued, it will institute a repurchase program, buying back shares of its own stock. In an effort to increase the market value of remaining shares and elevate overall earnings per share, the company may reduce the number of shares outstanding by repurchasing, or buying back those shares, thus taking them off the open market.
Why did Apple repurchase its stock?
1 According to the New York Times, the “primary purpose [of the repurchase] will be to eliminate the shareholder dilution that will occur from future Apple employee equity grants and stock purchase programs.” Due to its enormous cash reserves, Apple has been able to repurchase its stock aggressively, thus decreasing shares outstanding increasing its earnings per share. 2
How much of BlackBerry stock did they buy back in 2015?
announced a plan to repurchase 12 million of its own outstanding shares in an effort to increase stock earnings. BlackBerry plans to buy back 2.6% of its more than 500 million outstanding float shares as an increase in equity incentive.
How does a reverse stock split affect the number of shares outstanding?
The number of shares outstanding will increase if a company undertakes a stock split, or will reduce if it undertakes a reverse stock split. Stock splits are usually undertaken to bring the share price of a company within the buying range of retail investors; the increase in the number of outstanding shares also improves liquidity. Conversely, a company will generally embark on a reverse split or share consolidation to bring its share price into the minimum range necessary to satisfy exchange listing requirements. While the lower number of outstanding shares may hamper liquidity, it could also deter short sellers since it will be more difficult to borrow shares for short sales.
What is floating stock?
Floating stock is a narrower way of analyzing a company’s stock by shares. It excludes closely held shares, which are stock shares held by company insiders or controlling investors. These types of investors typically include officers, directors, and company foundations.
Where to find the number of shares outstanding prior to dividend?
You can find this information in the company's annual report, also called a 10-K, or quarterly report, also called 10-Q. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission makes these available online.
How to calculate number of shares issued in dividend?
Calculate the number of new shares issued in the stock dividend by multiplying the percentage of the dividend by the number of shares outstanding. For example, if the company has 300,000 shares outstanding and grants a 2 percent stock dividend, multiply 300,000 by 0.02 to find that 6,000 new shares have been issued.

Shares Outstanding Formula – Example #1
Shares Outstanding Formula – Example #2
- Let us take the example of Walmart Inc.’s financial for the year 2016. The opening number of issued common stock for the year was 3,228 million, while the company repurchased 66 million stock during the year. Based on the given information, Calculate the number of shares outstanding of Walmart Inc. at the end of the year 2016. Solution: Shares Outs...
Shares Outstanding Formula – Example #3
- Let us take the example of Apple Inc.’ to explain slightly different kinds of calculations. During 2016, the company repurchased 279.61 million common stock and issued fresh 37.02 million common stock. Calculate the number of shares outstanding of Apple Inc. at the end of the year 2016 if the opening number of issued common stock for the year was 5,578.75 million. Solution…