Skip to content

Stocks and trading

Average price calculator

Find the weighted average price of several buys, and what it takes to reach a target average.

Your buys
per share
shares
per share
shares
per share

Optional. Shows profit or loss at this price.

One more buy (optional)
per share
shares
Reach a target average (optional)
per share

Leave empty to skip.

Work out
per share
Brokerage and taxes

Adds delivery charges to the break-even price. The buys are treated as one order.

Your 150 shares cost ₹72,000 in all, an average of ₹480.00 a share. Selling at ₹480.00 would recover it, before charges.

Average price
₹480.00150 shares in all
Total invested
₹72,000
Break-even price
₹480.00Before charges. Turn charges on to include them.

After the extra buy

New average price
₹448.00
Change in averagePer share, against the average now
−₹32.00
Total shares
250
Total invested
₹1,12,000

Reaching the target average

Shares to buy
90
At a price of
₹400.00
Extra money needed
₹36,000
Average reached
₹450.00

What this assumes

  • The average is weighted by quantity: total money paid divided by total shares.
  • Averaging down is a mathematical operation on the buys you list. It does not say whether buying more is a good idea, and a lower average does not make a falling price recover.
  • Shares for a target are rounded up to a whole number, so the average reached can be slightly past the target.
  • This describes the figures you entered. It does not predict what comes next.

What next

  • Position size

    Work out how many shares a trade involves if you decide in advance how much you can afford to lose.

  • Risk-reward

    Compare how far a stop-loss and a target are from your entry, and the win rate that breaks even.

  • Brokerage

    See every charge on a trade, from brokerage to taxes, and what you actually keep.

  • Capital gains tax

    Estimate the tax on the profit from selling shares or mutual fund units.

How it works

Your average price is the total money you paid divided by the total number of shares. Buys at different prices count in proportion to their size, so a large buy moves the average more than a small one.

Average = (P1 x Q1 + P2 x Q2 + ...) / (Q1 + Q2 + ...)

A worked example

100 shares at 500 and 50 shares at 440 cost ₹72,000 for 150 shares, an average of ₹480.00. Adding 100 shares at 400 makes it ₹1,12,000 for 250 shares, an average of ₹448.00. To bring the original average to 450 with a buy at 400 you need Q x (average - target) / (target - price) = 150 x 30 / 50 = 90 shares, which costs ₹36,000.

Averaging down means buying more at a lower price so the average falls. It is only arithmetic on the buys you enter. It does not say that buying more is wise, and the price you must beat to break even is still the average, wherever it lands.

What it leaves out

  • Whether to buy more. A lower average does not change what the shares are worth today.
  • Brokerage and taxes on each buy, unless you turn charges on, and then only the sale and one combined buy are costed.
  • Tax on any profit when you sell.
  • Bonus issues, splits and dividends, which change quantities and prices. Adjust them yourself before entering.

Questions people ask

What is the average buy price of a stock?

It is the total amount you paid divided by the total shares you hold. If you bought at several prices, each purchase counts in proportion to how many shares it was, which is why it is called a weighted average.

Is averaging down a good idea?

This page cannot say. It only shows the arithmetic: a buy below your average pulls the average down, but it also puts more money into the same shares. Whether that suits you depends on your own view of the shares and how much loss you can accept.

Why can some targets not be reached?

A new buy only pulls the average towards its own price. To bring a high average down to a target you must buy below the target, and the lower the target, the more shares or the lower the price must be. If even a price near zero would not be enough, the page tells you.

Why is my broker’s average different?

Brokers may include charges in the cost, treat bonus issues and splits differently, or calculate over a different set of buys. Enter the same buys with adjusted prices to match.

What does the break-even price mean?

It is the price at which selling every share gives no profit and no loss. Before charges it equals your average. With charges on, it is a little higher, because brokerage, STT and other charges on the sale must be covered too.

Where the numbers come from