Profit Per Share

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Earnings Per Share [Abstract]

Profit Per Share

Profit per share

Computations of profit per share:	Three Months Ended March 31
(Dollars in millions except per share data)	2016		2015
Profit for the period (A) 1	$	271	$	1,245
Determination of shares (in millions):
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (B)	582.8		604.9
Shares issuable on exercise of stock awards, net of shares assumed to be purchased out of proceeds at average market price	4.9		7.8
Average common shares outstanding for fully diluted computation (C) 2	587.7		612.7
Profit per share of common stock:
Assuming no dilution (A/B)	$	0.46	$	2.06
Assuming full dilution (A/C) 2	$	0.46	$	2.03
Shares outstanding as of March 31 (in millions)	583.9		603.6

¹  Profit attributable to common stockholders.

²  Diluted by assumed exercise of stock-based compensation awards using the treasury stock method.

SARs and stock options to purchase 29,093,289 and 22,360,627 common shares were outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, which were not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive.

In January 2014, the Board authorized the repurchase of up to $10.0 billion of Caterpillar common stock, which will expire on December 31, 2018. During the first quarter of 2015, a total of approximately 4.8 million shares of our common stock were repurchased through the open market at an aggregate cost to Caterpillar of $400 million. Through the end of the first quarter of 2016, approximately $4.5 billion of the $10.0 billion authorization was spent.