9514 1404 393
Answer:
136.96754 shares, or maybe 136 shares
Step-by-step explanation:
At a cost of $146.02 per share, $20,000 will buy ...
$20,000 / (146.02/share) = 136.96754 shares
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Some accounts will let you purchase partial shares; others require you purchase whole shares. $20,000 is enough to pay for 136.96754 shares, but you may be able to purchase only 136 shares. (You would have $141.28 in cash remaining after that transaction.)
Some accounts manage shares in multiples of 0.001 shares; others may use more decimal places. Above, we have shown the quantity that spends the entire $20,000. Using fewer decimal places will leave some cash remaining.
We have assumed you're not paying any brokerage fees or loads that would reduce the amount of money that actually purchases shares.
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<em>Additional comment</em>
Whenever you buy anything, the cost of more than one of it is the unit price times the number of units. (Quantity discounts may apply.) In like fashion, the cost of multiple shares of stock is the single-share cost multiplied by the number of shares. As with all multiplication relations, a corresponding division relation is <em>the number of shares is the total cost divided by the cost per share</em>.