Reverse Stock Split Dividing Too Much

blackshucktx

I hold a stock in two different brokerage accounts: 2,000 shares in one, and 1,000 shares in another. The stock reverse-split 1:4. After entering the split, an entry appeared in both brokerage accounts. 2,000 turned to 500 shares accurately. But 1,000 shares became not 250 shares, but 62.5 - which is 1,000 divided by 16, not 4 (or divide by 4, twice).

My share-count shows 1,000 one day, and 62.5 the next. Quicken's placeholder entry wants me to enter a 182.5 share purchase to bring my balance to the proper 250 shares.

But the other account shows the proper 1:4 reduction.

There are no extraneous stock-split entries in the register and no other placeholder entries.

Any guesses on Quicken's voodoo math on this?

Quicken Premier version R45.13, build 27.1.45.13 on Windows 11

Thanks!

Jim_Harman

You say Quicken removed the shares, but I suspect that these transactions were downloaded from TD Ameritrade.

The way to fix this is to delete the erroneous Removed transactions and just leave the one StkSplit. If these transactions are not visible in the account's Transaction List, they may have been entered as hidden Placeholders. Go to Edit > Preferences > Investments and make sure the Show hidden transactions box is checked.

BTW the Quicken's price history is often incorrect for a few days around a stock split. If you see large jumps in your Market Value, you may have to edit the price history so that the new price takes effect on the same day as the split.

q_lurker

Have you checked for placeholders in that problem account?  You need to have preferences set to display hidden transactions.  I am looking for a placeholder cutting you from the 1000 to the 250. Not the one now being offered to take you from 62.5 up to 250. 

NotACPA

Are you seeing this in a Beta version ... or a released to the public version?

What BUILD of Q are you running?  Do HELP, About Quicken for this info.

blackshucktx

Thanks, NotACPA - Quicken Premier version R45.13, build 27.1.45.13 on Windows 11.  I'm in the beta program and gets lots of updates. I'm unsure if this is a beta build or not.

Rocket J Squirrel

That is currently the latest production release, which is known to have introduced new bugs. But I don't think that's the case here.

I'll take a guess that the fact that you have 2 StkSplits for the same stock is causing the second one to be reverse-split twice. Try deleting the StkSplit in the account with the 62.5 and see if your share balance becomes correct in that account. Back up and/or make a copy of your data file first.

blackshucktx

Thanks, Rocket - I wish it were that simple :-) There are no extraneous StkSplits in the Register.

BTW, when you manually enter the stock-split into one account, it automagically adds the split to the other account.

For grins, I removed the split entry, closed and opened Quicken, and downloaded new price history and transactions. This grabbed the 9/26 reverse split as a missing transaction.

The erroneous share-counts still appear.

I did find the offending "math" erroneously calculating the shares under Investing | Investing Tools | Security Detail View.

Just prior to the 9/26 reverse split, Quicken removed 750 shares from the 1,000, leaving 250 shares to divide by the 4-split, leaving 62.5 shares. Then it wants to add 187.5 to match-up to my online balance of 250.

In the register, there is no "Removed" shares entry on 09/25 - it's almost as if there are two competing logic paths in Quicken to handle the split. (A) multiple by 0.25 or (B) subtract the shares. Quicken appears to have done both.

Is there any way to edit this mysterious back-end transaction history?



Oddly, Quicken removed All 2,000 of my shares from the other account in another "hidden" entry in the security's transaction history. <groan>

I could just hack the Registry entries and get back on track... but, ya know, duct tape is okay on my plumbing, but not in my accounting!

Rocket J Squirrel

That's a puzzler. Ordinarily, I'd figure that TDAmeritrade stupidly sent the Remove Shares transaction when it noticed your shares had been reduced. But I'm stumped how it can appear in the history but not in the register.

Have you tried Validate & Repair? If not, try it with various options.

Jim_Harman

You say Quicken removed the shares, but I suspect that these transactions were downloaded from TD Ameritrade.

The way to fix this is to delete the erroneous Removed transactions and just leave the one StkSplit. If these transactions are not visible in the account's Transaction List, they may have been entered as hidden Placeholders. Go to Edit > Preferences > Investments and make sure the Show hidden transactions box is checked.

BTW the Quicken's price history is often incorrect for a few days around a stock split. If you see large jumps in your Market Value, you may have to edit the price history so that the new price takes effect on the same day as the split.

q_lurker

Have you checked for placeholders in that problem account?  You need to have preferences set to display hidden transactions.  I am looking for a placeholder cutting you from the 1000 to the 250. Not the one now being offered to take you from 62.5 up to 250. 

blackshucktx

Thank you everybody. All great suggestions. Jim_Harman and q_luker were spot-on. Those erroneous transactions were hidden in the register - and did not appear in the Placeholder Entries box.

The Show Hidden Transactions allowed me to delete the problem children from the register. Now Quicken displays the proper shares and values.

Now... how do I get the stock values to increase dramatically?!