I had a very unpleasant experience selling B shares through AST. I used the standard form provided on JCI's Website and fax'ed my request to AST. As you probably know, AST fisrt looks for other B buyers. If they find none, I elected to convert to A shares and sell. What I did not know is that AST holds the request until the end of the day and then sells first thing the next morning. This is per JCI policy, which I also did not know, but later confirmed through Investor Relations. So, on the day I sold, JCI closed at $4.55. It opened the following morning at $3.53. Why? I do not know, but this cost me over $4,500.00!!
Of course, if it had opened higher, I would not be complaining, but I thought my sale would go through the same day I faxed my request. I hope others learn from my (expensive) mistake. JCI price bounced right back up after the open, but it was too late. AST never told me this was how the process would work. So, if you sell, have your shares converted and sent to your independent broker, where you can control the actual sale timing. JCI said they would consider updating the sale form to warn others. In the meantime, Seller Beware!