Knowledge Base

The CRSP Stock Events Names file allows you to see a history of when things like company names and tickers have changed. You can use it to get more historically useful identifiers like CUSIPs and Permno's. It covers companies traded on NYSE and NASDAQ from the 1960s-present.

Why is this Important

If you have a list of company names or Tickers and are trying to get additional data about those companies (e.g. stock prices, company fundamentals, etc.), you'll need a way to match those names/tickers to the data about those companies in other datasets. However, a company's name or Ticker are not very reliable or unique identifiers, particularly when used over time. For example:

• Companies change their names - Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021. If your list of companies calls the company 'Facebook', you'll have a hard time matching with newer records that call it 'Meta'.
• Tickers can be reassigned to different companies over time - In 2005, the ticker 'S' was reassigned from Sears Roebuck & Co to Sprint Nextel Corp. In 2013, Sprint Nextel Corp. became Sprint Corp New. In 2021, the ticker 'S' was reassigned to SentinelOne Inc.

Using the CRSP Names File

1. Connect to CRSP – see WRDS access help
2. Under Subscriptions, select CRSP.
3. Under Quarterly Update, select Stock/Events > Names.
4. Fill out the Web Query Form (see detailed instructions).
   1. Step 1: Enter a date range.
   2. Step 2: Enter company codes, upload a .txt file, or search the entire database.
   3. Step 3: Select query variables. We recommend you take them all.
   4. Step 4: Select the output (e.g. .csv).
5. Press Submit Query. When the download is complete, click the link to view.