The most-recent net asset value, which is the fund's share price. Funds compute this value daily by dividing the total net assets by the total number of shares. For mutual funds, ETFs, and closed-end funds with tickers, the NAV reflects the price as of the close of business the previous day. For funds without tickers, the NAV reflects the closing price as of two business days prior.
Note about NAVs and closed-end funds: Because closed-end funds trade on an exchange, the fund's NAV may not be equal to its market price.
Note about on-screen versus printed reports: The time periods specified here apply only to on-screen data and Morningstar Quicktake Reports. Printed reports (Investment Detail, Portfolio Snapshot, Hypothetical Illustrations, etc.) include data as of the most-recent month-end.
Benefit
NAV updates offer a way of tracking the value of an investment. Changes in NAV can reveal capital appreciation (increase) or depreciation (decrease). The NAV will fall any time a fund makes a distribution, regardless of the distribution amount. If your fund's NAV has dropped considerably, determine if a distribution payout was made, and check the fund's most recent total-return and NAV-change figures. Because NAVs fluctuate daily with the market, mutual funds rely upon total return and not just share-price change, to gauge fund performance.