is there a max. # of stocks that one can buy from a company, and hows is that # determined?

Question

how can i know my limit of how many shares i can buy in a company and where do i find that number?

Answer 1

There is no maximum other than credit limits of your broker and what is available. When you purchase stock there must be someone selling at the same time. If you try to buy half of the stock in a company it probably won't be available from a stock broker. Even if it was they would probably want the millions it would cost in advance.

Answer 2

You can buy it all if you have the money, that’s true on paper. The problem is no one would ever do that because it would not be worth it… jhistense is correct in his answer, the max you can acquire quietly is 5% of the outstanding shares, once you hit 5% you must file a 10Q with the SEC, that makes it public that you are buying massive amounts of the stock. Now here is where reality kicks in, once the street gets wind of that everyone else will be buying it up too, and that means the price is going up WAY UP! Because…If you intend on acquiring a majority stake, or performing a hostile takeover it can only mean one of two things, (1) you’re going show up at the corporate office and tell the CEO he’s fired! and start running the company yourself, which if you have enough money to buy the company you must be a smart guy and have been doing something right, or (2) you’re going to chop the company up and sell of the pieces (remember most companies are like stolen cars, they are worth more broken up and sold off then they are worth in operation) In reality hostile takeovers never happen, that was a loop hole of the 1980’s… but its fun to think about.

Answer 3

It is determined either by your financial resources or the shares outstanding for the company. I was just looking at J. C. Penney and they have some 224-odd million shares outstanding. IF the price, $83.57 last I saw, were to stay the same (which it wouldn't) the answer lay between $19.4 billion (market capitalization) and whatever is in your bank account divided by $83.57 (plus commisions).

So what then is the maximum that you can buy?

BTW, there is still another matter, after you gain a significant percentage of the company and intend to buy out the company, there are a couple of government reports and new releases that need to be made. Even if you were Bill Gates or Warren Buffet you couldn't buy out the whole company in a day should you happen to have enough cash lying around. Furthermore, once you start, the price will shoot higher, each share coming at an ever still higher price.

Answer 4

I am not sure what the threshold is, but the SEC does have disclosure regulations and filing requirements which must be followed when a large number of shares are exchanged or owned. This is done in part to try to prevent someone from manipulating a stock price. If you have the money to perform something of this nature, you have a broker who is versed in these regulations, you have a lot of money and you not seeking the answer to the question on Yahoo Answers.

Answer 5

You may buy all the shares that are being offered to sell. As you approach ---5% ownership you have to give notice to the SEC.

For a major publicly traded company -5% ownership by a single entity is a powerful force at Board meetings where policy is formed. You can continue to buy up stocks.

When you reach +50% you are in fact the largest decision maker but you don't own the entire company, yet.

Answer 6

The limit would be 100% of the company. It would be pretty hard to get there though since most companies that are traded on the open market would cost in the millions to buy all of their stock.

Answer 7

There is no maximum number of shares a person can hold. If they are available, they can be bought.