Yes. Wells Fargo offers fractional shares through a WellsTrade feature called Stock Fractions, which lets you invest as little as $10 in hundreds of stocks and ETFs with no commission. The catch: it only runs inside the Wells Fargo Mobile app on a smartphone.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions
The Account You Need
Stock Fractions is a WellsTrade feature, meaning you have to open a self-directed brokerage account with Wells Fargo. Three account types qualify: a standard taxable brokerage account, a Traditional IRA, or a Roth IRA. Once the account is open, you fund it from a linked Wells Fargo checking or savings account.
The feature lives only in the smartphone version of the Wells Fargo Mobile app. You cannot place a fractional order from a desktop browser or a tablet.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions
How a Fractional Order Works
You pick a dollar amount rather than a share count. If a stock trades at $400 and you put in $50, you own 0.125 shares. The minimum per trade is $10 and the maximum is $25,000. The eligible universe is a curated list of frequently traded stocks and ETFs, not every ticker on the market.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions
Every fractional order runs as a market order at the prevailing price. Limit orders, stop orders, and other conditional order types are not available for Stock Fractions. Trading is restricted to regular market hours, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET on trading days, with no pre-market or after-hours execution. Recurring or scheduled fractional buys are not supported either, so you place each order by hand.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions
What You Actually Own
Wells Fargo Clearing Services holds your fractional position in custody. You get the economic benefits of ownership, including proportional dividends. Own 0.5 shares of a stock paying a $2 dividend, and you receive $1. Automatic dividend reinvestment can be turned on in the mobile app.2Wells Fargo. WellsTrade – Do-It-Yourself Investing
Voting rights and participation in tender offers or other voluntary corporate actions may be limited or unavailable for fractional positions. This is typical of fractional programs across the industry rather than something specific to Wells Fargo.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions
What It Costs
Online stock and ETF trades on WellsTrade carry no commission, and Stock Fractions are included. Buying or selling a fractional share online costs $0.2Wells Fargo. WellsTrade – Do-It-Yourself Investing
Two fees are worth knowing about. Placing a trade over the phone with an agent adds a $25 agent-assisted fee, whether the trade is whole or fractional.3Wells Fargo Advisors. WellsTrade Prices and Fees Moving your account to another brokerage costs $49.95 for the outgoing transfer.4Wells Fargo Advisors. WellsTrade Fees
Taxes and the Wash Sale Trap
Fractional shares are taxed the same as whole shares. Dividends are taxable income, taxed at ordinary or qualified rates depending on the holding period and the dividend itself. Sales at a profit produce capital gains: long-term rates if held over a year, short-term (ordinary income) rates if held for less. Wells Fargo tracks cost basis and issues Form 1099-B for sales during the tax year.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions
Pay attention to the wash sale rule. If you sell at a loss and buy the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days on either side of the sale, the IRS disallows the loss for that year and adds it to the cost basis of the replacement shares. Fractional investing makes small, frequent purchases easy, so accidental wash sales are easier to trigger than you might think, particularly with automatic dividend reinvestment turned on.6eCFR. 26 CFR 1.1091-1 – Losses From Wash Sales of Stock or Securities
If You Move Your Account
Fractional shares generally cannot be transferred in kind between brokerages. Whole shares move to the new firm through the normal ACAT process, but fractional portions are typically liquidated and sent over as cash. That forced sale can create a taxable event, which is worth planning around if you’re thinking about switching platforms. The $49.95 outgoing transfer fee applies on top of anything the receiving broker charges.4Wells Fargo Advisors. WellsTrade Fees
Limitations to Know Before You Start
- Mobile app only. No fractional trading on the desktop site.
- Market orders only. No limit, stop-loss, or conditional orders.
- Regular hours only. No pre-market or after-hours execution.
- Curated list of eligible stocks and ETFs, not the full market.
- No recurring or scheduled fractional buys. Each order is placed by hand.
- Voting and voluntary corporate actions may not apply to fractional positions.
For buying pieces of expensive stocks without putting up a full share price, the program works: $10 minimum, no commission, dividends included. The narrower order types, mobile-only access, and lack of scheduled buys make it a better fit for straightforward long-term purchases than for active trading.1Wells Fargo. Buy Pieces of Companies With Stock Fractions