Shareholders' Equity (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Common stock activity is as follows:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2020
Actual number of shares of common stock outstanding
Beginning of period		356,149,883
Shares of common stock issued through compensation plans		328,883
Employee benefit trust activity		(3,125	)
End of period		356,475,591

Summary of Dividends Declared on Nielsen's Common Stock

The following table represents the cash dividends declared by the Board and paid to shareholders foryears ended December 31, 2019 and the three months ended March 31, 2020, respectively.

Declaration Date	Record Date	Payment Date	Dividend Per Share
February 21, 2019	March 7, 2019	March 21, 2019	$	0.35
April 18, 2019	June 5, 2019	June 19, 2019	$	0.35
July 18, 2019	August 22, 2019	September 5, 2019	$	0.35
November 3, 2019	November 21, 2019	December 5, 2019	$	0.06
February 20, 2020	March 5, 2020	March 19, 2020	$	0.06

Summary of Approved Authorized Shares for Repurchase

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