GameStop Stock’s Direct Registration Is Increasing. Free Float Is Being Locked Up (2024)

FAQs

What percent of GME shares are direct registered? ›

This has had direct implications on the stock's trading performance. Even though the implications on GameStop's trading performance are uncertain, the fact that 25% of outstanding GME shares are directly registered is undoubtedly something new in the market.

Why Do GameStop Shareholders Keep Direct Registering Their Shares? There are two key reasons why GameStop shareholders keep engaging in this unusual practice. The first is that, in theory, registering shares with GME's transfer agent means there will be fewer shares available for short sellers to borrow.

Direct registration is a process that allows shareholders to hold their shares electronically in book-entry form rather than using a brokerage or bank. In other words, through the use of the Direct Registration System (DRS), shareholders can hold their shares without having to use a brokerage as an intermediary.

In total, about 30% of GameStop's total float is registered with the Direct Registration System (DRS).

GameStop's directly registered shares have seen a massive spike over the past few quarters. In Q1 2022, there were 50.8 million split-adjusted directly registered shares, which leapt to 71.8 million in October 2022 in Q2 2022. Now, the 76 million DRS are owned by 197,058 individuals.

This can take 2-3 weeks for them to process. Once the shares are in possession of the transfer agent, they will send you the physical DRS statement, which can take an additional 2-3 weeks for you to receive.

A: To sell a security held in direct registration, you can: instruct the issuer to sell your security (many issuers have programs in place to accommodate sale requests); or. instruct your broker-dealer or the issuer to electronically move your security to your broker-dealer for your broker-dealer to sell; or.

Direct Registration System relieves the shareholder of the worry and responsibility of keeping track of valuable share certificates, not to mention the time and expense of replacing them if they are lost or stolen. Traditional voting and other rights and benefits as a shareholder remain the same.

Shares held through the DRS are less liquid and can take longer to sell than those held under a brokerage's name. You can use the DRS to manage dividends or gift shares.

Can I sell my DRS shares? ›

Shares held in DRS and DSPP book-entry form can be sold via Computershare, subject to the terms and conditions of the DRS Sales Facility or DSPP, as applicable.

Disadvantages of direct shares:

Direct shares are deemed to be more risky than property investment. Prices move daily and can change due to market movements beyond your control. For example, big fund managers will sell to capitalise a profit for their unitholders.

About 30% Of GME's Float Locked Through DRS

Thus, DRS can be a way for investors to hold their assets without needing a brokerage firm behind them.

For example, a company can increase its free float by selling shares in a secondary offering or conducting a stock split. Additionally, as restricted shares become unrestricted, the unrestricted shares increase the free float.

GameStop also adds that up to the mentioned period, these 76 million directly registered shares belong to about 197,000 record holders - an average of 385 shares held per individual investor, for an average holding value of about $8,800 at today's share price.

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME)

The 2 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for GameStop Corp have a median target of 13.25, with a high estimate of 20.00 and a low estimate of 6.50. The median estimate represents a -35.11% decrease from the last price of 20.42.

Who owns Gamestop? Gamestop (NYSE: GME) is owned by 27.96% institutional shareholders, 10.63% Gamestop insiders, and 61.41% retail investors. Ryan Cohen is the largest individual Gamestop shareholder, owning 9.10M shares representing 2.99% of the company. Ryan Cohen's Gamestop shares are currently valued at $184.20M.

DRS: Provides accurate, quick and cost-efficient transfers between transfer agents and broker/dealers. Ensures secure electronic transfer. Reduces the risk associated with physical securities processing, including turnaround delays, mail losses and risks associated with stolen, forged or counterfeit securities.

GameStop's total shares outstanding is 304.68 Mil. GameStop's float percentage of total shares outstanding is 87.88%. Insider Ownership is the percentage of shares that are owned by company insiders relative to the total shares outstanding. As of today, GameStop's Insider Ownership is 2.71%.

Who holds DRS shares? ›

DRS shares are held in the name of the registered shareholder and are represented by a DRS Transaction Statement or DRS Advice. DRS shares cannot be lost, thus avoiding the cost and effort involved in replacing lost certificates.

In most cases, profits should be taken when a stock rises 20% to 25% past a proper buy point. Then there are times to hold out longer, like when a stock jumps more than 20% from a breakout point in three weeks or less. These fast movers should be held for at least eight weeks.

You may sell all or a portion of the shares in your CIP account at any time through www.computershare.com/investor, via telephone, or by mailing your request to Computershare. CIP generally supports the sales options set forth below.

It is the trading day plus 2 business days before a sale settles. Following settlement, the (cheque is dispatched or) funds are forwarded to your nominated financial institution for processing.

What is GME? GME is the ticker symbol for GameStop. It has the most directly registered shares versus any U.S. stock in history, because its global investor base learned how to move their shares to the DRS.

How much does Computershare charge to sell shares? A service fee of $15.00 plus a processing fee, currently at $0.12 per each whole share and fraction sold, will be charged for each sale. The pro- cessing fee includes any applicable brokerage commissions Computershare is required to pay.

Selling unregistered shares is typically considered a felony, but there are exceptions to this rule. SEC Rule 144 lays out the conditions under which unregistered shares may be sold: They must be held for a prescribed period. There must be adequate public information about the security's historical performance.

An RDO is generally targeted to a select number of accredited and institutional investors, although it may be sold to non- accredited investors. Issuers find RDOs an attractive option when they are seeking to test the market or conduct an offering without attracting much market attention.

Though delisting does not affect your ownership, shares may not hold any value post-delisting. Thus, if any of the stocks that you own get delisted, it is better to sell your shares. You can either exit the market or sell it to the company when it announces buyback.

As a shareholder you are not required to sell your shares back to the company in a share buyback; the company cannot make you do so; however, companies do offer a premium over the market price of the share to entice investors to sell.

Who initiates a DRS transfer? ›

All transfers from a transfer agent into a brokerage account must be initiated by the receiving brokerage firm. You will need to provide TD Ameritrade with their TD AMERITRADE DRS FORM and your Statement of Account as provided by West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc.

The delisting of shares results in the impossible selling of shares until the company goes through the exit route. It is effectively irrecoverable and is a loss to the taxpayer. Once the company goes through liquidation or is referred to NCLT under IBC, NCLT declares the company to drop the shares and claim the loss.

The company that sold you the preferred stock can usually, but not always, force you to sell the shares back at a predetermined price. Companies might choose to call preferred stock if the interest rates they're paying are significantly higher than the going rate in the market.

For investors, one of the biggest advantages of direct stock purchases are the cost savings achieved from eliminating brokerage fees. Companies may also provide price discounts and dividend reinvestments.

Which is a better investment? Whether stocks or mutual funds are better for your portfolio depends on your personal goals and risk tolerance. For many investors, it can make sense to use mutual funds for a long-term retirement portfolio, where diversification and reduced risk might be more important.

Direct investing can be risky. If it weren't, every investor would simply allocate 100% of their capital to this area and not bother conducting thorough due diligence.

A mortgage rate lock float down locks in a rate during the underwriting period with the option to reduce it if market interest rates fall during that period. Borrowers are protected against a rate increase while the float down option allows them to take advantage of a rate drop during the lock period.

Settlement time is two days after the transaction. In that time, the same shares can be lent out again, and again. This makes it possible, on paper, for more than 100% of the float of a stock to be shorted.

GME Off Exchange & Dark Pool Summary

Today's Off Exchange & Dark Pool volume is 1,028,830, which is 32.39% of today's total volume. Today's Lit volume is 2,147,155, which is 67.61%. Over the past 30 days, the average Off Exchange & Dark Pool volume has been 46.31%. The average Lit volume has been 53.69%.

How much of GME is owned by institutions? ›

Who owns Gamestop? Gamestop (NYSE: GME) is owned by 27.96% institutional shareholders, 10.63% Gamestop insiders, and 61.41% retail investors. Ryan Cohen is the largest individual Gamestop shareholder, owning 9.10M shares representing 2.99% of the company. Ryan Cohen's Gamestop shares are currently valued at $168.82M.

Also referred to as authorized stock or authorized capital stock, there is no limit as to the total number of shares that can be authorized within these documents for a larger company.

According to AMC's Form 10-Q, as of September 30, there were 4.9 million AMC shares and 4.7 million APE units directly registered with the transfer agent, which is less than 1% of AMC's float.