stock

A stock is the share in the ownership of a corporation . Commonly the ownership of a corporation is divided into shares of a definite value, like 10 dollars per share. The charter of the company will define how many shares and classes of shares will be issued . There are two main classes of stocks that exist: common stock and preferred stock . There are differences in whether the stockholder can vote or not, if the stock is redeemable or not, convertible or not, as well as preference in liquidation .

When a public company files a registration statement (the most common registration statement is the Form S-1 , most often filed as part of an initial public offering ) with the SEC and lists to any stock exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) , the stock of the company is then considered listed and can be accessed by the public on the public market .

[Last reviewed in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

llcs-corporations-partnerships

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