Outstanding shares represents all the shares that can be bought and sold by the public, as well as all the restricted shares that require special permission before being transacted.
Shares that can be freely bought and sold by public investors are called the float
Laymen terms: Subtract the float from the outstanding shares and the number you get are restricted shares.
Scottrade is showing roughly 700 million outstanding. Feel free to correct me if I have something wrong
While I like Scottrade's numbers, they are wrong.
Shares Outstanding 1,231,909,290 a/o May 15, 2014 Float 356,027,490 a/o May 15, 2014
I'd add 20-50 million to these numbers just to be safe, overall relatively good numbers.
By identifying the number of restricted shares versus the number of shares in the float, it allows you to gauge the level of ownership and autonomy that insiders have within the company.
They have a lot. Which tells me they have great incentives to do everything they can to deliver on proposals being made.