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Discover how to purchase fractional shares on Webull.
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If you want to invest in the stock market but don’t have enough money to buy full shares for diversification, fractional shares are a great option. This method lets you invest in stocks based on a specific dollar amount instead of buying whole shares. It helps you diversify your investment even with a smaller amount of money. Buying fractional shares on Webull is easy. You need to open and fund an account, and then you can access fractional shares from a wide selection of stocks and ETFs. We’ll review how to buy fractional shares through Webull and give you the basics to see if it’s the right choice for your investment needs.
How to Buy Fractional Shares on Webull
Buying fractional shares on Webull is easy. To get started, you need to give some basic personal information and details about your job, finances, and the types of investments you’re interested in. After you fill out the application, most people get approval via email in just a few minutes. Once your account is approved, all you have to do is put money into the account, and you’re ready to start investing.
Step 1: Open a Webull account. Signing up for an account with Webull is simple. Register with your phone number, verification code, or Facebook or Google profile. Then, select “open an account” and follow the instructions to verify your identity by uploading a photo of your driver’s license or another ID. After that, enter your basic personal, employment, and financial details, and choose the type of account you want. Once everything is filled out, enter your email to confirm account approval. You can fund your account and start investing when you get the approval email. You can deposit money through an ACH transfer from a linked bank account using the “make your first deposit” button.
You can pick between a cash account and a margin account. With a cash account, you can buy stocks using your deposit money. A margin account needs a balance of at least $2,000 and lets you borrow money to increase your buying power beyond your balance.
Step 2: Log in to your Webull account. After creating a Webull account, you can search for the stock or ETF you want to buy fractional shares of. If fractional share trading is an option for that stock, you’ll see a green diamond icon next to it.
Step 3: Click the “Trade” tab. Once you’ve chosen the stock you want to buy and confirmed that it’s available for fractional shares, click the “trade” button at the bottom of your screen. Then, change the order type to “market” because fractional share trading on Webull is only possible as a market order during market hours.
Step 4: Change the setting from “Shares” to “Dollars.” Next, switch the setting from “share” to “USD” to buy fractional shares. Enter the amount of money you want to invest and double-check all the order details to ensure they’re correct.
Step 5: Submit your order. After confirming your order details, tap the “buy” button at the bottom of the screen to submit your order. Review your order carefully before clicking “buy” because once you place the order, you can’t change it on Webull.
Compare Some Top Online Brokers
| Platform | Fractional Share Purchases | Fractional dividend reinvestment | Available Securities |
| Webull | Yes | Yes | Webull only lists active symbols for equities and ETFs. |
| Fidelity | Yes | Yes | Webull offers over 7,000 stocks and ETFs for trading. |
| Interactive Brokers | Yes | No | Webull provides access to over 11,000 stocks, ETFs, and ADRs for trading. |
| Charles Schwab | Yes | Yes | Only stocks included in the S&P 500 index are available, with no ETFs. |
| Robinhood | Yes | Yes | ETFs and stocks that meet specific volume and size criteria. |
What You Need to Open a Weibull Brokerage Account
To create a new account on Webull, you need to give your basic personal and financial details.
Personal Information
When setting up your account online, you’ll need to provide personal and contact details:
- Full name
- Home address
- Social Security number
- Birthdate
- Phone number
- Electronic mail address
- Driver’s license or another government-issued ID
Financial Information
Besides providing your details, you’ll need to provide information about your job and basic money. Once your account is approved, you can deposit money into it through an ACH transfer from your U.S. bank or a wire transfer from U.S. or foreign banks (fees might be charged for wire transfers).
Unlike full-service brokers, Webull doesn’t inquire about your financial goals or long-term planning. Their platform is purely transactional for now. If you want a low-cost, commission-free platform for easy trading, Webull is great. But if you need more features like account consolidation or research tools, you might need to check out other options.
The Benefits of Trading on Webull
One major advantage of using Webull for trading fractional shares is how quick it is to start. You can open an account in just a few minutes and begin trading immediately. Webull gives you access to thousands of U.S. stocks and ETFs for fractional share trading. However, you’ll need to check your account dashboard to see which stocks and ETFs are currently available by looking for the green diamond icon indicating fractional share availability next to them.
Webull provides a good range of charting tools and a simple stock screener regarding the trading platform. It might not have all the features of bigger brokers, but for a straightforward, fee-free brokerage, it’s enough for basic stock research and analysis. Webull also lets you access other assets, such as options, which can be attractive to more active traders.
One unique feature is that Webull allows margin trading. This means you can borrow money from Webull to invest, but you’ll need to pay it back with interest. Margin trading is best for experienced investors due to market volatility and the risk of losing more than your initial investment. Remember, even if your stocks lose value, you still have to repay the borrowed amount plus interest.
Purchasing fractional shares with a cash account is fast and straightforward. You can fund your Webull account easily through ACH funds transfer or wire transfer.
Investopedia Gives Webull Top Ratings For:
- Top Choice for Affordable Options Trading
- Top Pick for Budget-Friendly Day Trading Platform
- Top Choice for Affordable Options Broker
Factors to Consider When Investing in Fractional Shares
Selection of stocks and ETFs available for fractional share investing: Webull provides a wide selection of stocks and ETFs for fractional share investing. To see if a specific stock can be traded in fractional shares, search for it on your Webull account dashboard and look for the green diamond icon.
Fees and commissions: Starting on Webull is easy, and there are no fees for trading online U.S. stocks and ETFs. You won’t encounter account management or inactivity fees when buying and selling fractional shares.
Account minimums: At Webull, investors can purchase fractional shares for as little as $5, and opening an account requires no minimum.
Research amenities: After opening an account on Webull, you’ll find some research tools on your dashboard. You can check the current market price and basic information of any stock or ETF by going to the “markets” tab. The “news” tab gathers articles from various sources online about trending financial topics.
Educational content: Webull offers basic educational content on investing, their investment products, and using the Webull app. You can find these videos in the “learn” tab.
FAQs
1. What Are Fractional Shares?
Ans: Fractional shares let you buy a part of a stock share instead of the whole thing. This helps diversify your investments and lets you buy company shares even if you don’t have enough money for a full share. For example, if a stock costs $100 per share, you can invest as little as $5 in that company through Webull. This means you’d own 0.05 of a share (5/100). You decide how much money you want to invest, not how many shares to buy. Buying fractional shares lets you invest in expensive stocks without spending much money upfront. It’s a way to enter the market sooner, especially for costly stocks. Plus, with fractional shares of ETFs, you can spread your investments across different assets even with a smaller account balance.
2. What Is Webull?
Ans: Webull, established in 2017, is a brokerage company based in New York and owned by a Chinese entity. It offers a simple platform without extra features, catering to new and active traders. Webull doesn’t charge commissions or fees or require minimum account balances. It provides standard brokerage accounts for investors to trade various financial products.
- Stocks
- ETFs
- Options
At Webull, you can trade fractional shares of thousands of stocks and ETFs, but this feature is only accessible on the latest version of their mobile app. Remember, only certain stocks and ETFs on an approved list can be traded fractionally. Options or cryptocurrency trading cannot be done fractionally at the moment.
3. Do Fractional Shares Make You Money?
Ans: Investing in fractional shares is a smart method for gradually investing your money in the market at different price points.
Regularly using this strategy will allow you to purchase small portions of different stocks over time. This adds up to owning full shares of multiple stocks in your portfolio. This method helps reduce the impact of trying to time the market, where you might pay more or less for a stock based on market conditions. By lowering your overall cost for an asset, you can potentially make a profit if the asset’s value increases over time. Diversified portfolios tend to increase in value over time.
4. Can You Buy Fractional Shares on Charles Schwab?
Ans: Aside from Webull, Charles Schwab is another great online platform for buying fractional shares of stocks. With Schwab, investors can select from any stock in the S&P 500 for an investment as low as $5. Schwab also allows investors to choose up to 30 “slices” per order, making it easy to diversify their portfolios. While Charles Schwab offers many options for buying fractional shares, ETFs are not currently available. However, Webull and competitors like Fidelity offer fractional shares for select ETFs.
5. Are Fractional Shares Harder to Sell?
Ans: Investors should consider that selling fractional shares on Webull is limited to market orders only. When selling, there’s a minimum of 0.00001 shares per order for closing fractional share positions. It’s important to note that the “$5 minimum” rule doesn’t apply when closing fractional share positions. Additionally, fractional shares cannot be transferred, so they must be sold before any transfer can occur.
