SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

7.   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)	2011			2010
Common stock - issued:
Balance, beginning of period		662,660			661,209
Exercise of stock options and issuance of restricted shares		818			902
Balance, end of period		663,478			662,111
Treasury stock:
Balance, beginning of period		192,999			192,641
Purchases of treasury stock:
Open market		5,100			0
Other		157			98
Dispositions of treasury stock:
Shares issued to AFL Stock Plan		(1,253	)		0
Exercise of stock options		(85	)		(1,589	)
Other		(79	)		(83	)
Balance, end of period		196,839			191,067
Shares outstanding, end of period		466,639			471,044

Outstanding share-based awards are excluded from the calculation of weighted-average shares used in the computation of basic earnings per share. 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)	2011		2010		2011		2010
Anti-dilutive share-based awards		9,657		3,320		5,498		3,460

Share Repurchase Program: During the first nine months of 2011, we repurchased 5.1 million shares of our common stock in the open market. During the first nine months of 2010, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock under our share repurchase program.

As of September 30, 2011, a remaining balance of 25.3 million shares of our common stock was available for purchase under a share repurchase authorization by our board of directors in 2008.