Splits and dividends should be factored into the price. I use the adjusted closing price <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.investopedia.com&#x2F;terms&#x2F;a&#x2F;adjusted_closing_price.asp" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.investopedia.com&#x2F;terms&#x2F;a&#x2F;adjusted_closing_price.a...</a>.<p>However in this case with Ebay it wasn&#x27;t a stock split but rather a big chunk of Ebay (Paypal) split off into a separate independent company. I think what happened is when Ebay and Paypal separated Ebay share owners gained the equivalent Paypal shares. So this would throw off the numbers.