In financial markets, stock is the partial ownership of a company. Shareholders bear the financial (but not legal) risk of the corporation, and receive dividends, which are a piece of the net income.[1]
A person or organization which holds shares of stocks is called a shareholder. The value of the stock multiplied by the shares outstanding is the market capitalization. This is the most common metric for valuing a publicly traded company.
Stocks can be bought and sold privately or on stock exchanges. Someone who buys and sells stock on the behalf of another individual is called a stockbroker.
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term share is used the same way as stock is described in the United States.