Earnings Per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

NOTE 9 – EARNINGS PER SHARE

The following table illustrates the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands, except per share data):



	For the Three Months Ended September 30,				For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019		2018		2019		2018
Numerator (basic and diluted):
Net income	$	391,293	$	366,151	$	1,066,126	$	1,024,130

Denominator:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding – basic	76,172		80,593		77,415		81,939
Effect of stock options ⁽¹⁾	797		817		805		902
Weighted-average common shares outstanding – assuming dilution	76,969		81,410		78,220		82,841

Earnings per share:
Earnings per share-basic	$	5.14	$	4.54	$	13.77	$	12.50
Earnings per share-assuming dilution	$	5.08	$	4.50	$	13.63	$	12.36

Antidilutive potential common shares not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share:
Stock options ⁽¹⁾	207		650		214		232
Weighted-average exercise price per share of antidilutive stock options ⁽¹⁾	$	360.80	$	264.65	$	360.36	$	268.22


⁽¹⁾	See Note 8 for further information concerning the terms of the Company’s share-based compensation plans.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the computation of diluted earnings per share did not include certain securities. These securities represent underlying stock options not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share, because the inclusion of such equity awards would have been antidilutive.

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter and through November 6, 2019, the Company repurchased an additional 0.1 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program, at an average price of $393.84, for a total investment of $34.8 million.