M corp. had 50,000 shares of common stock outstanding on 1/1/19. during 2019, they had the following stock transactions occur:

4/1: purchased 2,000 shares of treasury stock.

6/1:declared a 4% stock dividend.

9/1: issued 6,000 shares of common stock.

What should be the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding used in the calculation of simple (or basic) EPS for 2019?

a.54,046

b.55,884

c.52,440

d.25,463

e.55,021