# Disappearing fractional stocks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 6, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202 "2005-06-06T20:24:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/1 "2005-06-06T20:24:45Z")

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I own a small amount of stock in a company that just finished a 7:1 reverse split in their stock. This means that for every 7 shares of stock I owned before, I own 1 now.

Now, on the off chance that the number of shares I originally owned was not divisible by 7, what happens to the fractional shares. I sure didn’t get it. Does the company just get to keep them, an unnoticed windfall?

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**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/2 "2005-06-06T20:26:55Z")

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They send you a check.

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**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/3 "2005-06-06T20:44:23Z")

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> [@mks57](#):
>
> They send you a check.

Nope, they don’t.

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**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/4 "2005-06-06T20:46:47Z")

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You should get some cash, though it may take a few weeks to appear in your account.

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**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/5 "2005-06-06T20:48:23Z")

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Hmmm…I thought some stock exchanges are allowed/outfitted to trade fractional shares? If that’s the case, then they should be able to handle reverse splits that make fractional shares. It might depend on what exchange your stock is listed on, **ToC**.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-fractional-stocks/307202/6 "2005-06-06T20:52:17Z")

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They should send you a check, or your account should be credited, if you bought the shares through a broker. It may take some time before the check or credit shows up, possibly a couple weeks. Ask investor relations for the company, or your broker for confirmation.