Common Share Repurchases

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Common Share Repurchases disclosure

Common Share Repurchases disclosure [Text Block]

7. COMMON SHARE REPURCHASES

During the three months and six months ended June 30, 2015, the Company repurchased 7.9 million and 13.5 million shares, respectively, under its share repurchase authorization, for a total cost of $800 million and $1.40 billion, respectively.  The average cost per share repurchased was $101.62 and $103.85, respectively.  On April 21, 2015, the Company’s board of directors approved a share repurchase authorization that added an additional $5.0 billion of repurchase capacity.  At June 30, 2015, the Company had $5.08 billion of capacity remaining under its share repurchase authorization.  In addition, the Company acquired 4,448 and 0.7 million shares for a total cost of $0.5 million and $73 million during the three months and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively, that were not part of the publicly announced share repurchase authorization.  These shares consisted of shares retained to cover payroll withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of restricted stock awards and shares used by employees to cover the exercise price of certain stock options that were exercised.