SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

The following table is a reconciliation of the number of shares of the Company's common stock for the nine-month periods ended September 30.

(In thousands of shares)	2012		2011
Common stock - issued:
Balance, beginning of period	663,639		662,660
Exercise of stock options and issuance of restricted shares	1,157		818
Balance, end of period	664,796		663,478
Treasury stock:
Balance, beginning of period	197,329		192,999
Purchases of treasury stock:
Open market	0		5,100
Other	270		157
Dispositions of treasury stock:
Shares issued to AFL Stock Plan	(1,306	)	(1,253	)
Exercise of stock options	(94	)	(85	)
Other	(127	)	(79	)
Balance, end of period	196,072		196,839
Shares outstanding, end of period	468,724		466,639

Outstanding share-based awards are excluded from the calculation of weighted-average shares used in the computation of basic earnings per share (EPS). The following table presents the approximate number of share-based awards to purchase shares, on a weighted-average basis, that were considered to be anti-dilutive and were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the following periods.

	Three Months Ended September 30,		Nine Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2012	2011	2012	2011
Anti-dilutive share-based awards	6,289	9,657	6,710	5,498

Share Repurchase Program:During the first nine months of 2012, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock in the open market. We repurchased 5.1 million shares of our common stock in the open market in the first nine months of 2011.

As of September 30, 2012, a remaining balance of 24.4 million shares of our common stock was available for purchase under a share repurchase authorization by our board of directors in 2008.