9. Stockholders’ Equity

Common stock activity is as follows:

	Nine months Ended
	September 30, 2017
Actual number of shares of common stock outstanding
Beginning of period		357,465,614
Shares of common stock issued through compensation plans		1,222,481
Employee benefit trust activity		230,491
Repurchases of common stock		(2,750,586	)
End of period		356,168,000

On January 31, 2013, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted a cash dividend policy to pay quarterly cash dividends on its outstanding common stock. The below table summarizes the dividends declared on Nielsen’s common stock during 2016 and the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

Declaration Date	Record Date	Payment Date	Dividend Per Share
February 18, 2016	March 3, 2016	March 17, 2016	$	0.28
April 19, 2016	June 2, 2016	June 16, 2016	$	0.31
July 21, 2016	August 25, 2016	September 8, 2016	$	0.31
October 20, 2016	November 22, 2016	December 6, 2016	$	0.31
February 16, 2017	March 2, 2017	March 16, 2017	$	0.31
April 24, 2017	June 2, 2017	June 16, 2017	$	0.34
July 20, 2017	August 24, 2017	September 7, 2017	$	0.34

On October 19, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.34 per share on our common stock. The dividend is payable on December 5, 2017 to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 21, 2017.

The dividend policy and the payment of future cash dividends are subject to the discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors.

Nielsen’s Board approved a share repurchase program, as included in the below table, for up to $2 billion in the aggregate of our outstanding common stock. The primary purposes of the program are to return value to shareholders and to mitigate dilution associated with our equity compensation plans.

Board Approval	Share Repurchase Authorization ($ in millions)
July 25, 2013	$	500
October 23, 2014	$	1,000
December 11, 2015	$	500
Total Share Repurchase Authorization	$	2,000

Repurchases under these plans will be made in accordance with applicable securities laws from time to time in the open market or otherwise depending on our evaluation of market conditions and other factors. This program has been executed within the limitations of the authority granted by Nielsen’s shareholders.

As of September 30, 2017, there have been 36,588,112 shares of our common stock purchased at an average price of $45.88 per share (total consideration of approximately $1,679 million) under this program.

The activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 consisted of open market share repurchases and is summarized in the following table:

					Total Number of
					Shares Purchased as		Dollar Value of Shares
	Total Number		Average		Part of Publicly		that may yet be
	of Shares		Price Paid		Announced Plans		Purchased under the
Period	Purchased		per Share		or Programs		Plans or Programs
As of December 31, 2016		33,837,526	$	46.16		33,837,526	$	437,970,016
2017 Activity
January 1- 31	—		$	—	—		$	437,970,016
February 1- 28		564,623	$	45.30		564,623	$	412,392,848
March 1- 31		365,228	$	45.15		365,228	$	395,903,537
April 1-30		—	$	—		—	$	395,903,537
May 1-31		1,020,212	$	40.65		1,020,212	$	354,426,944
June 1-30		—	$	—		—	$	354,426,944
July 1-31		—	$	—		—	$	354,426,944
August 1-31		698,062	$	41.77		698,062	$	325,268,111
September 1-30		102,461	$	39.25		102,461	$	321,246,116
Total		36,588,112	$	45.88		36,588,112