Reading a detailed stock quote table helps you understand what's going on with the company's shares. Besides getting the latest price on a stock, you also get other information that will help judge investor sentiment for that day. A detailed stock quote table can be found on all major financial sites.

Here's an explanation of what goes into a stock quote table:

Name and Ticker Symbol: The company name along with a 3 or 4 letter symbol appears on top of the table. If you do not know the trading symbol of the company, you just search for it by typing in the company's name in a designated box of the financial website.

Last Trade: This is the last price where the stock traded.

Trade Time: This is the time where the last trade was done

Change: The difference between the latest price of the stock and the price of the previous close.

Volume: The number of shares traded in the current day.

Average Daily Volume: The average number of shares traded daily.

Day's High: The highest price that the stock traded during the current trading day.

Day's Low: The lowest price that the stock traded during the current trading day.

Open: The price of stock on the first trade of the day.

Previous Close: The last price traded of the stock from the previous trading day.

Bid: The price the buyer is willing to pay.

Ask: The price the seller is willing to sell.

52 Week High: The highest price the stock reached during the last 52 weeks.

52 Week Low: The lowest price the stock reached during the last 52 weeks.

Institutional Ownership: The percentage of shares outstanding owned by institutions such as mutual funds.

Price Earnings (P/E): The Price/Earnings Ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by earnings per share from the last four quarters.

Dividend Per Share: The annual dividend paid out per share. The dividend is paid out every 3 months.

Current Dividend Yield: The yield is calculated by taking the annual dividend divided by the current share price.

Total Shares Outstanding: The number of shares in circulation and held by investors.

Market Capitalization: The current market value of the company. The market capitalization is calculated by taking the current market price of the share and multiplying it by the number of shares outstanding.

Exchange: The exchange where the stock trades.

Forward P/E: The Price/Earnings Ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by earnings per share estimated for the next fiscal year.