How do you find information on how many shares of walmart stock you own?

Answer 1

The question was: How do you find information on how many shares of Walmart stock you own?

The answer is: It depends on how you own the shares. Essentially, there are 2 methods to own a company's stock: Through a Brokerage Company or through Direct Investment.

The most common way by far is to buy the shares of stock through a brokerage company and have the brokerage company "hold" them for you in an account you set up with the brokerage company. As such, the company in whom you won the stock - in this case Walmart - will deal with your brokerage company in all matters relating to the stock. For example, dividends will be paid by Walmart to the brokerage company, and the brokerage company will credit them to your brokerage account. Then you - as the owner of the brokerage account - can direct the brokerage company to use those funds to buy more stock, send the funds to you, etc. The company's stock - Walmart in this case - is registered in the "Street Name" - the name of the brokerage company. The brokerage company then holds the shares for you and does all the work for you as well - for which the collect fees (to "manage" your account) and commissions (money you pay to the brokerage company for the buying and selling of the shares).

The second way is Direct Investment. If the company in which you wish to own the stock participates in a direct investment plan - and many do, you can buy the shares directly through that company. For example, Walmart allows individuals to invest directly in Walmart shares. You deal directly with their "transfer agent" (the company that manages the transactions for Walmart). There are only a few transfer agents - Computershare and BNY Mellon are two of the largest - and every one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and most of the S&P 500 offer a Direct Investment Plan (DRIP for short) to individuals who wish to participate in one.

Why would someone chose to purchase stock via a DRIP rather than a broker? Several reasons.

1) Cost is a big one. Most DRIPs charge very low fees - far less than even a discount broker. For example, Pfizer - the world's largest drug company - charges no fee at all to set up a drip with them.

2) A second reason is fractional shares, where the company allows you to invest all the money you wish, with none left over if you did not have enough to purchase an exact share - for example, if Pfizer is selling for $16 a share, and you had $100 to invest, Pfizer would purchase, and hold for you in your DRIP account with Pfizer, 6.25 shares.

3) Dividend re-investment. If Pfizer pays a dividend (and they do), they will either send you a check, or if you wish - and you should - buy more shares if Pfizer stock with it. At little or no cost (with Pfizer, it is no cost) to you. This is a great way to add more shares to you holdings - without paying for them.

Drawbacks with a DRIP? The main one is you don't get all that attention from a broker. Some people find they don't need it - nor do they need to pay for it - so they don't mind. Second, let's say you have three DRIPs - Pfizer, Exxon, and GE. You would have three accounts, and get three statements - one for each stock you own.

To find out more, Search for DRIP on Google, or look at two of the largest DRIP transfer agents - Computershare (www. computershare.com) and BNY Mellon (http://www.bnymellon.com/shareownerservices/individuals.html).

Good Luck...