Selling Stock

[RMAMom]

My husband has some stock that he wants to sell. We have no idea where to start. Can anyone tell me how to go about this and I am sure there are fees involved so I would appreciate any advice on how to minimize fees

 

[rebbyparker]

If he physically has the certificates, Google who the Transfer Agent is for the stock. They should have a website, with a phone number you can call. There will be forms you may have to fill out and they can provide them. If he is holding electronic shares, call the holding company listed on your statements and they will walk you through selling.

 

[manning]

If you don't need the money right away consider this. If you owned the stock less than a year the profits will be taxed at a higher rate.

 

[RMAMom]

Thanks, he has had the stock since1982 compushare sent the last dividend check but there is a different company on the original purchase paperwork.

 

[rebbyparker]

If Compushare is the transfer agent now (there's always mergers/acquisitions going on), I would call them first. It may take a while (never spent less than 30 minutes waiting on the phone) but keep pushing to speak to someone and tell them you want to sell.

 

[bridgie04]

A thought. If he waits til Jan. 1 or after, taxes will be be due on any profit til 2015 filing year.

 

[supersnoop]

I've heard of both compushare and computershare. If they're managing an employee stock program, they will probably withhold for taxes from the proceeds of the sale. So it might be better to sell near the end of the year if you're worried about withholding too much.

 

[dcfromva]

Thanks, he has had the stock since1982 compushare sent the last dividend check but there is a different company on the original purchase paperwork.

Contact computershare. It should be relatively easy to sell especially if they hold your stock. They should be able to explain your options for selling. ( I believe the batch order option has lower fees. ) The fees will be deducted from your proceeds.


From compushare website:
Computershare is the first  and only  transfer agent offering real-time* market order sales as a standard service to shareholders in the US.

Computershare offers market order sales to any shareholder who own book-entry shares through the Direct Registration System (DRS) or in a shareholder investment plan. Key features include:
Next-Available Sale. Through market order sales, your shareholders can sell their shares at the current market price. Orders placed during the market hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, will be submitted promptly. Orders placed during non-market hours will be submitted as soon as the market opens.
Shareholder-Paid Fee. A fee is added to the current batch order sales fee.
Multiple Sales Channels. Shareholders have three ways to place market order sale requests: online via Computershares Investor Centre website, or via phone on Computershares interactive voice response system or a Computershare investor services representative.
Please note that Computershare also continues to offer batch orders, if desired. Batch orders are not routed directly to the market but aggregated with other batch requests and submitted collectively.

Ready to place a market order?
Just log into your account at Investor Centre. There youll find complete instructions on how place a market order either online, by phone, or through the mail.

 

[Kay1]

I like Scottrade for this sort of thing. I like to talk with the agents face-to-face and they don't charge much.

Good luck.

 

[doxdogy]

He would first need to send the certificates to the transfer agent to hold them in a dividend reinvestment account. Once the transfer agent has the shares in an account, he can then sell them through the transfer agent. I worked for a transfer agent in the late eighties. At that time, the maximum amount we could sell at one time were 99.99 shares of stock.

If the shares were issued as the result of either ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) or any other employee plan (again I remembering information from decades ago), he would need to contact an accountant regarding figuring out the price at time of issue or if he kept the statements that were sent to him at the time of issue, that would help. Just Google tax basis per share, to help with any capital gains on the stock.

If he does send them to the transfer agent to sell for him sent them either certified or registered mail return receipt requested. Also make sure he insures the stock too. If the stocks were lost, there would be a cost to replace them.

 

[rapmarks]

If he is getting a dividend statement from compushare, it will be very easy to sell the stock. look on line or call them. I just did this for my aunts a couple of months ago. If you have a stock certificate, they will explain how to mail it in. make sure you know the true cost basis, if you have been reinvesting dividends, and decide if you want the sale in 2013 or 2014 for tax reasons.