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SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Share Repurchase Program  
Share repurchase program

NOTE 8 – SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

In January of 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program. Under the program, the Company may, from time to time, repurchase shares of its common stock, solely through open market purchases effected through a broker dealer at prevailing market prices, based on a variety of factors such as price, corporate trading policy requirements and overall market conditions.  The Company’s Board of Directors may increase or otherwise modify, renew, suspend or terminate the share repurchase program at any time, without prior notice.  As announced on February 10, 2021, and May 27, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors each time approved a resolution to increase the authorization amount under the share repurchase program by an additional $1.0 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, resulting in a cumulative authorization amount of $17.3 billion.  The additional authorizations are effective for three years, beginning on their respective announcement dates.

The following table identifies shares of the Company’s common stock that have been repurchased as part of the Company’s publicly announced share repurchase program for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands, except per share data):

For the Three Months Ended

For the Nine Months Ended

September 30, 

September 30, 

    

2021

    

2020

    

2021

    

2020

Shares repurchased

 

1,583

965

 

3,801

2,634

Average price per share

$

595.96

$

458.70

$

528.09

$

415.28

Total investment

$

942,955

$

442,962

$

2,007,122

$

1,093,973

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had $974.4 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.  Subsequent to the end of the third quarter and through November 8, 2021, the Company repurchased 0.4 million additional shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program, at an average price of $618.44, for a total investment of $246.9 million.  The Company has repurchased a total of 85.2 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program since the inception of the program in January of 2011 and through November 8, 2021, at an average price of $193.88, for a total aggregate investment of $16.5 billion.