What is a fractional shares order?
A fractional shares order is a type of US stock order that allows investors to buy or sell fractions of a stock in decimals, instead of requiring whole shares. Fractional trading allows investors to buy and sell stocks at a lower total order cost than the minimum cost of buying or selling 1 whole share.
Fractional trading rules
● Certain US stocks and ETFs support fractional trading.
● Fractional trading hours are 9:30 am to 4:00 pm ET, or 9:30 am to 1:00 pm ET for half-day trading.
● Market order or limit order only.
● Only DAY orders are supported. (No support for attached orders or short selling).
● The minimum order size for fractional trading is 0.0001 shares, and a minimum buy order amount of $5.
● Once an order for fractional shares has been submitted, the quantity of that order cannot be modified.
● It is not possible to change whole share orders to fractional shares orders.
Find symbols available for fractional trading
To find the list of symbols available for fractional trading:
1. Go to the Markets tab
2. Tap Fractional Shares
Please note that symbols in the list may be updated from time to time based on market conditions, but actions to close existing fractional shares will not be affected by the updates.
To check if a symbol supports fractional trading:
1. Go to the Detailed Quotes page
2. The Fractional Shares icon will appear in the upper right corner of the page if the symbol is available for fractional trading
How to place a fractional shares order?
1. Go to the Trade tab
2. Select Support Fractional Trading in the Order Types page for stocks that support fractional trading
3. Select Market or Limit as the order type and enter the quantity in decimals to place an fractional order
4. Or place an amount-based order by switching Quantity to Amount on the Trade page, Dollar value orders will be converted into share quantities for execution, to four decimal places. Please refer to the transaction history for the actual quantity executed.
5. After submitting, your fractional shares order will be shown in Orders > Filled or Cancelled
Fractional trading fees
For the details, please refer to the Fee Schedule.
Corporate action
1. For which corporate actions are fractional shares eligible?
● Investors who own fractional shares are entitled to receive dividends and can retain their voting rights, just as they would if they owned whole shares.
● However, fractional shares are not eligible for certain corporate actions such as tender offers, or rights issues.
2. Under what circumstances will result in receiving fractional shares or cash?
● For US stocks eligible for fractional trading, any fractional shares resulting from stock splits and symbol change events will still remain in your account. However, in the event of reverse split, merger or stock dividend, you will receive cash in lieu of fractional shares.
● For US stocks ineligible for fractional trading, any fractional shares resulting from any corporate actions will be credited to your account in the form of cash.
Margin trading
To buy fractional shares with margin, you can use your max buying power, and the financing rate is the same as that for whole shares. Please note that fractional trading does not support short selling.