Help me make sense of my Stock? Uncle works for Morgan & Stanley?

Question

I own one ( i believe) share of stock in ADP that my uncle opened for me when i was like, 12. I guess every month i recieve a 'statement' type thing from Morgan Stanley

It says i have 1 ADP stock, current price $41.90

Then under that is says:

"Asset Summary"

Debit Balance -234.80

Total Account Valuation $192.90

Then under that it says

Closing balance as of 6/30 -234.80

Do i owe money? Gained money? Can someone explain what all of this means lol my uncle lives a couple states away so i wont see him for a while. I really want to understand the stock i have... THANKS!

Answer 1

It sounds like you are well beyond the age of 12.  I would guess you received 1 share of ADP some time between May 1, 1991 and Jan 2, 1996.  The stock has split twice since then.  First one share became 2 on Jan 2, 1996 and then the 2 shares became 4 on Jan 4, 1999.  If you would like to see this data you can go to "finance.yahoo.com".  Put your stock symbol in "ADP", choose technical analysis from the list on the left side.  When the graph appears choose range of MAX and then choose overlay for SPLITS.  There is also a list of split dates below the graph.  I would guess that you now have the equivalent of about 4.6 shares with the fraction coming from the re-investment of dividends.  Too bad the statement is not more clear.  Different brokers have different formats.  You should certainly ask your uncle for clarification of the 234.80.  I would hate to think you are incurring a service charge for inactivity in your account.

Answer 2

You've probably been charged some fees on the account.  Some institutions will charge you an inactivity fee (quarterly) unless you have a certain balance or number of trades.  Call Morgan Stanley to find out, their number should be on the statement.

Answer 3

your stock holdings have lost money and now have a negative value of $234.80.  you can check the value of adp online and see historically how the stock is doing.

Answer 4

I would say ask your uncle...

Answer 5

as an investor, it's pretty much impossible to ever OWE money.  if it was fees, then they would have just liquidated part of your position to cover the fees.

the only way you could possibly OWE money is if your uncle set up a 12-yr old with a margin account, which would be absolutely ridiculously insane for him to do.

either call the brokerage or your uncle and figure out what's going on here.

Answer 6

I may be wrong on this.

But, first, is the Total Account Valuation $192.90  Or

Total Account Valuation -$192.90  as in Negative?

-234.80 + 41.90 = -192.90 ?

It seem Morgan Stanley been adding a service charge over the years. So, the Statement show you owe -234.80

If, you sold the Stock for $41.90 and applied that toward the Negative Balance you owe -192.90

If, the 192.90 is a positive number I am not sure what going on.