Which term describes the shares that are currently held by the public?

The term that describes the shares that are currently held by the public is outstanding stock. Outstanding stock refers to shares that have been issued by a company and are currently held by shareholders, which include both individual and institutional investors. These shares represent ownership in the company and give shareholders rights such as voting in company elections and receiving dividends.

Outstanding stock is a critical metric used in financial analysis, as it is essential for calculating key performance indicators like earnings per share (EPS) and determining a company's market capitalization. The number of outstanding shares can change over time due to events such as stock buybacks or new issuance of shares, but fundamentally, it indicates the shares that investors own and have claimed in the market.

Unissued stock refers to shares that have been authorized to be issued by the company but have not yet been sold to investors. Treasury stock consists of shares that were previously issued but have been repurchased by the issuing company, and these shares do not have voting rights or entitlement to dividends while held in the company's treasury. Market value, on the other hand, pertains to the total value of a company based on the current price of its outstanding shares multiplied by the number of those shares, but it does not specifically denote the shares themselves.