Components of Equity

The components of equity for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 are as follows:



	Shareholders’ equity			Noncontrolling interest		Total equity
Balance at December 31, 2017	$	1,991,858		2,515		1,994,373
Cumulative effect of accounting change	(22,357		)	(105	)	(22,462	)
Exercise of stock options	26,397			—		26,397
Shares repurchased under provisions of stock repurchase plans	(172,360		)	—		(172,360	)
Stock compensation expense	11,267			—		11,267
Net earnings	135,692			508		136,200
Other comprehensive income (loss)	8,972			(121	)	8,851
Balance at March 31, 2018	$	1,979,469		2,797		1,982,266

Balance at December 31, 2016	$	1,844,638		2,575		1,847,213
Exercise of stock options	45,365			—		45,365
Shares repurchased under provisions of stock repurchase plans	(53,908		)	—		(53,908	)
Stock compensation expense	10,623			—		10,623
Net earnings	93,264			303		93,567
Other comprehensive income (loss)	8,914			(54	)	8,860
Balance at March 31, 2017	$	1,948,896		2,824		1,951,720

The Company has a Non-Discretionary Stock Repurchase Plan to repurchase shares from the proceeds of stock option exercises and employee stock purchases. During the three-month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, 445 and 954 shares were repurchased at an average price of $65.68 and $56.49 per share, respectively.

The Company also has a Discretionary Stock Repurchase Plan approved by the Board of Directors that authorizes management to reduce issued and outstanding stock down to 170 million shares of common stock. During the three-month period ended March 31, 2018, 2,216 shares were repurchased at an average price of $64.58 per share. No shares were repurchased during the three-month period ended March 31, 2017.

Accumulated other comprehensive loss consisted entirely of foreign currency translation adjustments, net of related income tax effects, for all the periods presented.

Subsequent to the end of the first quarter, on May 8, 2018, the Board of Directors declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.45 per share payable on June 15, 2018 to shareholders of record as of June 1, 2018.