Common and Preferred Stock

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Cigna has a total of 25 million shares of $1 par value preferred stock authorized for issuance. No shares of preferred stock were outstanding at December 31, 2021, 2020 or 2019.

The following table presents the share activity of Cigna for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019:


(Shares in thousands)	2021	2020	2019
Common: Par value $0.01; 600,000 shares authorized
Outstanding- January 1,	354,771	372,531	380,924
Net issued for stock option exercises and other benefit plans	3,375	4,142	3,413
Repurchased common stock	(35,198)	(21,902)	(11,806)
Outstanding- December 31,	322,948	354,771	372,531
Treasury stock	71,246	35,505	13,012
Issued- December 31,	394,194	390,276	385,543

Dividends

In 2021, Cigna initiated and declared quarterly cash dividends of $1.00 per share of Cigna common stock. Cigna currently intends to pay regular quarterly dividends, with future declarations subject to approval by its Board of Directors and the Board's determination that the declaration of dividends remains in the best interests of Cigna and its shareholders. The decision of whether to pay future dividends and the amount of any such dividends will be based on the Company's financial position, results of operations, cash flows, capital requirements, the requirements of applicable law and any other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant. On February 3, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.12 per share of Cigna common stock to be paid on March 27, 2022 to shareholders of records on March 9, 2022.

The following table provides details of Cigna's dividend payments:


Record Date	Payment Date	Amount per Share	Total Amount Paid (in millions)
2021
March 10, 2021	March 25, 2021	$1.00	$345
June 8, 2021	June 23, 2021	$1.00	$342
September 8, 2021	September 23, 2021	$1.00	$330
December 7, 2021	December 22, 2021	$1.00	$324
2020
March 10, 2020	April 9, 2020	$0.04	$15
2019
March 11, 2019	April 10, 2019	$0.04	$15

Accelerated Share Repurchase Agreements

On August 23, 2021, as part of our existing share repurchase program, we entered into separate accelerated share repurchase agreements ("ASR agreements") with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (collectively, the "Counterparties") to repurchase $2.0 billion of common stock in aggregate. On August 24, 2021, in accordance with the ASR agreements we remitted $2.0 billion to the Counterparties and received an initial delivery of 7.7 million shares of our common stock. We recorded the payments to the Counterparties as a reduction to stockholders' equity, consisting of a $1.6 billion increase in treasury stock, which reflects the value of the initial 7.7 million shares received upon initial settlement and a $400 million decrease in Additional paid-in capital, which reflects the value of the stock held back by the Counterparties pending final settlement of the agreements.

Upon final settlement of the ASR agreements on November 29, 2021 and December 1, 2021, we received an additional 1.8 million shares of our common stock for no additional consideration as the value of this stock was held back by the Counterparties pending final settlement of the agreements. The total number of shares of our common stock repurchased under the ASR agreements was 9.5 million based on an average daily volume weighted-average share price of our common stock during the term of the agreements, less a discount, of $209.53. In addition, we reclassified the $400 million recorded in Additional paid-in capital to Treasury stock upon settlement.