How does one decide it is time to sell Marks and Spencer shares

Zoe02

Hi All,

I currently own 7705 M&S shares, which I acquired during my employment there several years ago. I'm contemplating selling these shares and investing the proceeds in Vanguard funds instead. However, I'm uncertain about the optimal time to sell, given the fluctuations in the retail sector and my initial purchase price of approximately £2.09 per share.

The value of my shares experienced a decline after reaching a peak but has since shown signs of recovery. Considering the potential volatility of the retail industry in the upcoming months and years, I'm unsure how to proceed. Maybe I am emotionally attached as M&S was my first employment and shares purchase.

I would appreciate any insights or advice you may have on this matter.

Farway

Perhaps consider selling some and holding the reminder?

This would also help with potential Capital Gains tax liabilities by limiting the sale proceeds

wmb194

Zoe02 said:

Hi All,

I currently own 7705 M&S shares, which I acquired during my employment there several years ago. I'm contemplating selling these shares and investing the proceeds in Vanguard funds instead. However, I'm uncertain about the optimal time to sell, given the fluctuations in the retail sector and my initial purchase price of approximately £2.09 per share.

The value of my shares experienced a decline after reaching a peak but has since shown signs of recovery. Considering the potential volatility of the retail industry in the upcoming months and years, I'm unsure how to proceed. Maybe I am emotionally attached as M&S was my first employment and shares purchase.

I would appreciate any insights or advice you may have on this matter.

There's no easy way to know. You can read what other people think about the company* and hold and hope but it comes down to your risk tolerance and how it fits into your wider portfolio - the price as I type is 374p so your holding is worth about £28,817. With no context that sounds a lot. 

Assuming they're not in an Isa, what did you acquire them for? Another thing to consider is capital gains tax.

Owning shares in individual companies is high risk so from the perspective of balancing risk most people would suggest selling them and moving into a fund. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, though.

*The general consensus on M&S is currently positive but as you say in retail fortunes can change rapidly. Not many years ago M&S was toast, the turnaround has been impressive but not many predicted it.

Hal17

My wife is exactly in the same position as you with her M&S Shares. She has an emotional attachment too.

However, be careful as you only have a CGT allowance of £3,000 and if you sold them all in one go, at the current M&S price you would make £12,636 and be liable for CGT.

Zoe02

wmb194 said:

Zoe02 said:

Hi All,

I currently own 7705 M&S shares, which I acquired during my employment there several years ago. I'm contemplating selling these shares and investing the proceeds in Vanguard funds instead. However, I'm uncertain about the optimal time to sell, given the fluctuations in the retail sector and my initial purchase price of approximately £2.09 per share.

The value of my shares experienced a decline after reaching a peak but has since shown signs of recovery. Considering the potential volatility of the retail industry in the upcoming months and years, I'm unsure how to proceed. Maybe I am emotionally attached as M&S was my first employment and shares purchase.

I would appreciate any insights or advice you may have on this matter.

There's no easy way to know. You can read what other people think about the company* and hold and hope but it comes down to your risk tolerance and how it fits into your wider portfolio - the price as I type is 374p so your holding is worth about £28,817. With no context that sounds a lot. 

Assuming they're not in an Isa, what did you acquire them for? Another thing to consider is capital gains tax.

Owning shares in individual companies is high risk so from the perspective of balancing risk most people would suggest selling them and moving into a fund. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, though.

*The general consensus on M&S is currently positive but as you say in retail fortunes can change rapidly. Not many years ago M&S was toast, the turnaround has been impressive but not many predicted it.

I was clueless. I just bought because of the 20% discount due to sharesave scheme.

I think I will sell 50%.

Went high then dropped in the past.

I sometimes tend to be on the side of all or nothing, which is not a good mindset for investment.

Will sell some and put in funds for diversification.

They were not in ISA, used my ISA allocation for this year.

Zoe02

Hal17 said:

My wife is exactly in the same position as you with her M&S Shares. She has an emotional attachment too.

However, be careful as you only have a CGT allowance of £3,000 and if you sold them all in one go, at the current M&S price you would make £12,636 and be liable for CGT.

Emotions and investments do not go well together LOL.

Maybe will start selling in small quantities, I am with Iweb transfered from Equniti and then from HL to Iweb so each trade is £5.

Since they were transfered in Feb 2024 gone up by 10k.

The retail sector is a bit unstable. 

Zoe02

Farway said:

Perhaps consider selling some and holding the reminder?

This would also help with potential Capital Gains tax liabilities by limiting the sale proceeds

That is a good idea.

kempiejon

I hold M&S, have done for 20 odd years. We all know "The value of your Investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed at any time"
Still MKS up 50% in a year and about doubled in 5 years. Restarted dividends after a few years off.
Although I know I can't know I'm more optimistic about MKS increasing my wealth from here than I have been for a while.

Linton

You will only know the optimal time to sell after the event.  Sell when you need the money for something else.  If most of your investments are in funds I see little point in holding shares in a small number of individual companies, except perhaps for fun or emotional reasons.

sausage_time

If you want to hold, consider "bed and ISA".   Sell to realise a gain of < £3000 and repurchase in a low cost ISA (Trading 212, iWeb are examples I have used).   

Be careful of the gain calculation.  If you bought them at a discount, the gain may be with respect to the market price at the time (not what you paid).  If you bought at several times you may need to do a "Section 104 pool" calculation.  You will need a spreadsheet and some strong coffee.

kempiejon

sausage_time said:

If you want to hold, consider "bed and ISA".   Sell to realise a gain of < £3000 and repurchase in a low cost ISA (Trading 212, iWeb are examples I have used).   

Be careful of the gain calculation.  If you bought them at a discount, the gain may be with respect to the market price at the time (not what you paid).  If you bought at several times you may need to do a "Section 104 pool" calculation.  You will need a spreadsheet and some strong coffee.

Ah very good advice if there's spare ISA capacity.
I think considering harvesting capital gains and reducing future liabilities is good planning. When the cap gains were much higher £12k in 2020 not much of a concern for me.
It's another allowance, I think it makes sense to use it.