Share is a unit of account for different kinds of financial instruments like stocks, limited partnerships, mutual funds, and REIT’s.

Example: When the company is issuing stock for $100,000, it will be difficult to have one sole investor get the stock (ownership) for $100,000. To simplify the process, the $100,000 stock requirement is dividend in 100,000 shares; and per investor strength the investor can get just one share for $1 and others who can afford can invest $1000 and get 1000 shares. The stock affordability is simplified like “little drops of water make a mighty ocean”, sharing the stock (ownership) makes the purchase affordable for investors and the company also gets the capital it requires for the project.

When it comes to stocks, the company does not sell the complete ownership of the firm in shares, rather only a limited percentage of the ownership of the company is sold as shares to raise the stock (capital) for the company. Only in rare cases, the complete ownership is given in stocks.

One share is one portion of the limited numbers of equal portions in the capital of a firm which is being sold for stock. The owner of the share is permitted with the respective percentage of the distributed profits.
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