Equity

Summary of Changes in Equity

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of equity is presented below:



	Nine Months Ended
	December 28, 2013			December 29, 2012
	(millions)
Balance at beginning of period	$	3,785		$	3,653
Comprehensive income	633			587
Dividends declared	(113		)	(109		)
Repurchases of common stock	(408		)	(497		)
Stock-based compensation	74			65
Shares issued and tax benefits recognized pursuant to stock-based compensation plans	78			71
Conversion of stock-based compensation awards	(15		)	—
Balance at end of period	$	4,034		$	3,770

Common Stock Repurchase Program

On February 4, 2014, the Company's Board of Directors approved an expansion of the Company's existing common stock purchase program that allows it to repurchase up to an additional $500 million of Class A common stock. Repurchases of shares of Class A common stock are subject to overall business and market conditions.

During the nine months ended December 28, 2013, 2.2 million shares of Class A common stock were repurchased by the Company at a total cost of $398 million under its common stock repurchase program. The total cost of repurchased shares included two separate $50 million prepayments made in March 2013 and June 2013 pursuant to share repurchase programs with third-party financial institutions, which collectively resulted in the delivery of 0.6 million shares during the nine months ended December 28, 2013, based on the volume-weighted average market price of the Company's Class A common stock over each of the program's respective 93-day repurchase term, less a per share discount. The remaining availability under the Company’s common stock repurchase program was approximately $230 million as of December 28, 2013.

In addition, during the nine months ended December 28, 2013, 0.4 million shares of Class A common stock at a cost of $60 million were surrendered to, or withheld by, the Company in satisfaction of withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of awards under the Company’s 1997 Long-Term Stock Incentive Plan, as amended (the “1997 Incentive Plan”), and its 2010 Long-Term Stock Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2010 Incentive Plan”).

During the nine months ended December 29, 2012, 3.0 million shares of Class A common stock were repurchased by the Company at a cost of $450 million under its common stock repurchase program. In addition, 0.4 million shares of Class A common stock at a cost of $47 million were surrendered to, or withheld by, the Company in satisfaction of withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of awards under the 1997 Incentive Plan and the 2010 Incentive Plan.

Repurchased and surrendered shares are accounted for as treasury stock at cost and held in treasury for future use.

Dividends

Since 2003, the Company has maintained a regular quarterly cash dividend program on its common stock. On May 21, 2012, the Company's Board of Directors approved an increase to the Company's quarterly cash dividend on its common stock from $0.20 per share to $0.40 per share. On November 5, 2013, the Company's Board of Directors approved an additional increase to the Company's quarterly cash dividend on its common stock from $0.40 to $0.45 per share. The third quarter Fiscal 2014 dividend of $0.45 per share was declared on November 6, 2013, was payable to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 27, 2013, and was paid on January 10, 2014. Dividends paid amounted to $109 million and $128 million during the nine months ended December 28, 2013 and December 29, 2012, respectively.

Conversion of Stock-based Compensation Awards

In connection with the formation of the Office of the Chairman, the Company entered into employment agreements with certain of its executive officers, which became effective during the three months ended December 28, 2013, and converted certain fully-vested and expensed stock-based compensation awards to a cash contribution into a deferred compensation account. The Company recorded the excess of these awards' then current redemption value over their original grant-date fair value to retained earnings, with a corresponding increase to other non-current liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheet.