The Liquidity of the S&P 100

Here’s a topic that investors often overlook until it’s too late: liquidity. One of the great things about stocks is that they’re easy to sell.

Here’s a look at all the stocks in the S&P 100 (there are actually 101). I included the Market Cap (in millions), the float (in millions) and the average daily volume (in millions). The final column is the average daily volume divided by the float. In other words, what percentage of a company’s shares are traded each day. As you can see, this figure varies widely.

Ticker Market Cap Float Avg Volue Liquidity
FCX $11,860 1,020 32.23 3.160%
BAX $19,650 544 12.35 2.269%
EBAY $32,060 1,120 20.25 1.808%
HAL $31,800 853 14.39 1.688%
NOV $14,830 383 6.09 1.589%
FB $259,360 2,130 31.98 1.501%
APA $15,200 376 4.81 1.278%
GM $47,760 1,370 17.18 1.254%
DVN $15,970 387 4.47 1.155%
FOXA $54,780 1,630 16.96 1.040%
BIIB $74,170 235 2.42 1.030%
CAT $43,770 601 6.09 1.013%
AAPL $651,310 5,700 57.5 1.009%
AMZN $247,620 384 3.81 0.991%
EXC $25,590 859 8.27 0.962%
APC $33,350 507 4.46 0.880%
QCOM $85,880 1,570 13.61 0.867%
DOW $50,700 1,160 9.64 0.831%
BAC $167,430 10,400 85.98 0.827%
EMC $47,350 1,920 15.68 0.817%
TGT $48,940 628 5.1 0.813%
COP $58,420 1,230 9.63 0.783%
TXN $48,830 1,020 7.96 0.780%
MON $43,270 466 3.54 0.759%
ALL $23,280 399 3.03 0.759%
HPQ $48,820 1,800 13.58 0.754%
F $54,400 3,880 28.88 0.744%
SLB $93,260 1,270 9.44 0.743%
GILD $160,890 1,460 10.68 0.732%
NSC $23,860 300 2.19 0.729%
INTC $140,100 4,750 33.95 0.715%
EMR $30,250 653 4.59 0.703%
GS $80,200 407 2.84 0.698%
DIS $176,350 1,560 10.87 0.697%
DD $43,830 904 6.16 0.682%
MS $66,400 1,520 10.25 0.674%
MET $54,200 942 6.29 0.668%
FDX $42,680 262 1.75 0.667%
OXY $51,110 761 4.92 0.647%
AXP $75,600 999 6.4 0.640%
AIG $75,470 1,290 8.22 0.637%
UNP $74,730 866 5.51 0.636%
C $153,800 3,010 18.93 0.629%
MDLZ $68,770 1,610 10.12 0.629%
MCD $91,740 941 5.87 0.624%
UTX $82,230 889 5.49 0.617%
SBUX $83,900 1,440 8.81 0.612%
TWX $57,100 815 4.96 0.609%
LOW $63,500 924 5.58 0.604%
RTN $32,340 302 1.81 0.599%
SO $38,800 908 5.38 0.593%
COF $41,030 540 3.12 0.578%
WMT $207,260 1,560 8.89 0.570%
BK $43,770 1,070 6.08 0.568%
CMCSA $141,620 2,490 14.07 0.565%
CVX $142,620 1,880 10.48 0.557%
ACN $64,140 458 2.55 0.557%
ABBV $98,240 1,630 8.91 0.547%
BA $91,510 679 3.65 0.538%
T $201,260 6,150 32.9 0.535%
CSCO $131,690 5,060 26.85 0.531%
NKE $95,650 677 3.49 0.516%
ORCL $164,420 3,220 16.56 0.514%
UNH $113,190 938 4.46 0.475%
AMGN $116,170 756 3.57 0.472%
MSFT $347,750 7,410 34.43 0.465%
GD $45,790 321 1.48 0.461%
LLY $90,680 1,110 5.11 0.460%
UPS $87,090 690 3.12 0.452%
JPM $231,350 3,680 16.16 0.439%
COST $61,990 436 1.91 0.438%
MA $103,420 992 4.33 0.437%
WBA $98,740 950 4.13 0.435%
SPG $55,430 307 1.33 0.433%
IBM $144,350 979 4.21 0.430%
CVS $113,140 1,110 4.75 0.428%
MMM $88,250 624 2.61 0.418%
HD $148,240 1,280 5.35 0.418%
USB $72,310 1,750 7.28 0.416%
LMT $64,220 310 1.28 0.412%
GOOG $426,100 585 2.38 0.407%
V $172,150 1,950 7.93 0.407%
MDT $98,810 1,410 5.66 0.401%
ABT $64,700 1,490 5.96 0.400%
PFE $203,340 6,160 24.54 0.398%
BMY $98,750 1,660 6.53 0.393%
GOOGL $439,080 633 2.48 0.392%
HON $77,880 780 3.02 0.387%
MRK $146,720 2,820 10.61 0.376%
VZ $185,920 4,070 15.11 0.371%
CL $55,740 897 3.32 0.370%
MO $103,110 1,960 7 0.357%
PG $185,630 2,710 9.59 0.354%
BRK-B $306,790 1,090 3.85 0.353%
XOM $303,080 4,160 14.59 0.351%
PEP $134,590 1,470 4.93 0.335%
KO $165,870 4,320 14.28 0.331%
GE $251,910 10,090 33.34 0.330%
WFC $270,120 5,120 16.44 0.321%
JNJ $257,330 2,770 8.26 0.298%
PM $123,110 1,550 4.02 0.259%

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) sees 3.160% of its shares traded every day. That means that the average share is held for less than 32 trading days. For Philip Morris (PM), it’s 386 trading days, or 18 months.

We turn over one-fourth of our Buy List each year. That means the average stock is held for four years, which is over 1,000 trading days.

There are some big exceptions (like eBay and Qualcomm) but for the most part, I like the stocks at the bottom of the list better than the ones at the top.

Posted by on September 14th, 2015 at 2:13 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.