when a purchase fills at a higher price than the last price both the bid and the ask may move higher for the next transaction a security s current price is the last price paid for it which is usually different from the bid and the ask 
special considerationsfor individuals that are trading their own portfolios quoted prices are often displayed in a rectangle in an easy to spot location on their online trading platform the bids and asks are constantly moving if the security is in high demand and trading with a large volume if the security is not well covered and does not have significant demand the quoted price may not move much up or down over the course of the trading day quoted price and tradersmany stakeholders follow the quoted prices of stocks including company management the investor relations team major investors and retail investors traders in particular are constantly watching and predicting a security s quoted price in order to place bets for their clients or their own accounts when a trader works for a financial institution they generally trade with the company s money and credit alternatively a trader may work independently in which case they would not receive the same salary and bonus as for a larger entity but are able to keep all of the profit 