2026-09-22 7 min read

Stock Target Price Calculator

Sell price that locks in a chosen profit after all costs. Live calculator with worked steps and charts.

Calculator

Buy Price (per share) Help

What you paid per share, before commissions.

Number of Shares(shares) Help

How many shares the trade covers.

Desired Profit ($) Help

Profit you want the sale to lock in.

Advanced options (3)

Buy Commission & Fees

Sell Commission & Fees

Dividends Received Help

Cash dividends collected while holding.

This stock profit & returns calculator runs on standard equity maths: price moves plus dividends minus costs drive returns, payouts drive income, and multiples or discounted cash drive value.

Results

Optimal

Target Sell Price

$65.00

Locks in $1,500 profit on 100 shares.

Desired Profit

$1,500

Implied Return

30.00%

Buy Price

$50.00

Commissions

Live results update as you type — currently showing target sell price of $65.00. Replace the defaults with your own prices, payouts and share counts for an exact answer.

Visualizations

Buy vs Target

50Buy

65Target

Formula

The sell price that banks a chosen profit after every cost — the exit written before entry.

Target = (Buy × Shares + Fees + Desired profit − Dividends) ÷ Shares

Variables

Symbol	Name	Unit	Description
Buy	Buy price	currency	Entry
Profit	Desired profit	currency	Goal
Fees	Fees	currency	Both legs

Explanation

Sell here to lock in exactly the profit you planned, after all costs.

Step-by-Step Calculation

Follow each step to understand how the result is calculated from your inputs.

Step 1

Add the desired profit to everything the trade must cover.

Cover = buy×shares + fees + profit − dividends

Buy:$50.00

Profit:$1,500

Fees:$0.00

Result: $6,500

Step 2

Divide by the share count.

Target = cover ÷ shares

Shares:100

Result: $65.00

Step 3

Express the goal as a return on cost.

Return = profit ÷ cost

Profit:$1,500

Result: 30.00%

Final Answer

$65.00

Worked Examples

See how the calculator works with different scenarios.

Scenario

The stock target price calculator run on the values above, showing the full calculation path rather than only the answer.

Inputs

Buy Price (per share):$50

Number of Shares:100

Buy Commission & Fees:$0

Sell Commission & Fees:$0

Calculation

1. Add the desired profit to everything the trade must cover. → $6,500 2. Divide by the share count. → $65.00 3. Express the goal as a return on cost. → 30.00%

Result

Target Sell Price: $65.00

Interpretation

Sell here to lock in exactly the profit you planned, after all costs.

Understanding Your Result

Your Result: Target Sell Price: $65.00

What This Means

Sell here to lock in exactly the profit you planned, after all costs.

Why It Matters

Sell at $65.00 to bank $1,500 (30.00% on cost).

Professional Interpretation

Sell at $65.00 to bank $1,500 (30.00% on cost).

How this is calculated

The sell price that banks a chosen profit after every cost — the exit written before entry.

What drives the result

Profit is proceeds minus cost, and return is profit divided by cost. Time turns a total return into a CAGR via compounding, while averaging reshapes the cost base that every future return is measured against. Because fees and dividends hit cost and proceeds directly, the headline return always differs from the bare price move.

Recommendations

•Split the target into tranches — banking half early beats missing all of it.
•Trail the target up if momentum is strong rather than fixing it once.

Educational Content

Introduction

Stock returns come from two sources: the price moving and cash paid out along the way. Every figure on this page — profit, return, CAGR, breakeven, average cost — is derived from that single relationship, which is why adding commissions or dividends shifts all of them at once.

Concept Explanation

Applications

▸Checking a round-trip trade after commissions and dividends

▸Annualising multi-year gains into a comparable yearly rate

▸Setting breakeven and target prices before entering a position

▸Averaging down or up without losing track of the true cost base

Benefits

•Separates price moves from all-in returns including fees and income
•Turns holding periods of any length into comparable yearly rates
•Makes breakeven and profit targets explicit before emotions intervene
•Keeps averaged positions honest about what recovery really needs

Limitations

•Ignores taxes, which split short-term gains from long-term rates
•Uses nominal dollars — inflation quietly takes 2–3% a year
•Past price paths do not predict future returns or volatility
•Corporate actions (splits, spinoffs) must be adjusted before comparing prices

Best Practices

•Always include both commissions when judging a trade
•Annualise before comparing with market benchmarks
•Write the exit (target and stop) before entering the position
•Recompute the average cost the same day any new lot settles

Common Misconceptions

Myth: Price return equals total return

Truth: Dividends and fees routinely add or subtract several points — price alone understates buy-and-hold wealth and overstates net trading gains.

Myth: A 50% loss needs a 50% gain to recover

Truth: From the lower base it needs 100%. Percentage losses always demand larger recovery gains.

Practical Tips

•Split targets across tranches.
•Convert the target to an implied return for sanity.

Common Mistakes

Setting targets from hope, not maths

Anchor to profit and weight, not round numbers.

Assumptions

This calculator makes the following assumptions to provide estimates:

Single full exit: Partial exits blend multiple targets.

Limitations

Be aware of these limitations when using this calculator:

Limitation: Ignores taxes, which split short-term gains from long-term rates

Limitation: Uses nominal dollars — inflation quietly takes 2–3% a year

Limitation: Past price paths do not predict future returns or volatility

Limitation: Corporate actions (splits, spinoffs) must be adjusted before comparing prices

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about this calculator.

Should targets move?

Trail them in strength; never lower them to justify holding weakness.

Who uses the stock target price calculator?

It is used by traders writing exits before entry, by investors planning profit-taking, and by advisers documenting a thesis. It sits in the Stock Profit & Returns group of the Stocks, Dividends & Equities section of Atlascalcs.

How accurate is the stock target price calculator?

Every figure follows directly from the inputs using standard equity mathematics, so it is accurate to the quality of the values you enter. Broker rounding, corporate actions and tax treatment explain small differences against a statement.

Should I compare total return or price return?

Total return — price plus dividends minus fees — is the wealth you actually keep. Price return alone understates buy-and-hold compounding and flatters active trading.

Does rounding change the results?

Every calculation runs on full precision and rounds only for display. Broker statements round to cents and apply their own corporate-action adjustments, so expect tiny differences.

Are taxes included?

No. Taxes depend on holding period, account type and jurisdiction, so every figure here is pre-tax. Short-term gains and non-qualified dividends are typically taxed as ordinary income.

What should I have ready before using these calculators?

Per-share prices, share counts, commissions on both legs, dividends received, and for valuation the earnings, book, sales, debt, cash and share-count figures from the latest filings.

How do splits affect historical prices?

Split-adjust old prices before computing multi-year returns — otherwise a 2-for-1 split looks like a 50% crash. Data providers usually publish adjusted closes for this reason.

Related Calculators

Explore more calculators related to this topic.

Related Guides

Deepen your understanding with these educational resources.

Stock returns guide: profit, CAGR and breakeven

How price moves, fees and dividends combine into the return you keep.

Dividend investing guide: yield, growth and DRIPs

Sustainable yields, payout safety and the compounding snowball.

Valuation guide: multiples, DCF and margin of safety

Which multiple when, how DCF works, and what buffer to demand.

Glossary

Technical terms used in mortgage calculations explained in plain language.

Target price: The sell price that locks in a chosen profit after all costs.
Profit: Proceeds minus cost, including commissions and any dividends received while holding.
Breakeven price: The sell price where profit is exactly zero after fees and dividends.

Authoritative References

Trusted sources and standards referenced by this calculator.

SEC — Investor.gov: stocks, dividends and corporate actions SEC EDGAR — company filings (10-K, 10-Q) for earnings and share counts IRS — Topic 404: dividends (qualified vs ordinary) Federal Reserve — corporate profits and equity valuations (Z.1) S&P Global — S&P 500 earnings and dividend history Morningstar — equity research and valuation methodology

Applicable Standards

Returns computed pre-tax in nominal dollars; commissions and dividends included exactly as enteredCAGR uses discrete annual compounding; yields use trailing-twelve-month dividends over priceMultiples use diluted shares where share counts apply; EV adds debt and subtracts cashMoney rounded for display only; all calculations run at full precision

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Page Information

Last Updated:

2026-09-22

Version:

2.0.0

References:

License:

Free to use for educational and professional purposes.