DEFINITION of 'Floating Stock' The number of shares available for trading of a particular stock. Floating stock is calculated by subtracting closely-held shares and restricted stock from a firm’s total outstanding shares. Closely-held shares are those owned by insiders, major shareholders and employees, while restricted stock refers to insider shares that cannot be traded because of a temporary restriction such as the lock-up period after an initial public offering. A stock with a small float will generally be more volatile than a stock with a large float, apart from having limited liquidity and wider bid-ask spread. Because of these issues, institutional investors seldom invest in low-float stocks. Also known as share float or simply “float”.
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