Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

19. Stockholders' Equity

The Company has the authority to issue up to 100,000 shares of $100 par preferred stock and up to 500,000,000 shares of $1.00 par common stock. None of the preferred stock has been issued. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, 255,892,502 and 255,320,345 shares of common stock were issued, and the Company had 92,880,644 and 85,413,416 treasury shares, held at cost, respectively.

Share Repurchases

Share repurchases were as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Shares repurchased in the open market	7,467,228		6,005,880		12,314,795
Shares repurchased from holders of employee stock options	—		5,951		86,303
Total shares repurchased	7,467,228		6,011,831		12,401,098
Average price paid per share	$	80.50	$	76.16	$	60.38

In May 2012, the Board of Directors renewed its standing authorization of the Company's share repurchase program, on terms consistent with its prior five-year authorization which expired at that time. This renewal authorized the repurchase of up to 10,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock during the five-year period ending May 2017. The Company repurchased 3,870,248 shares under this authorization during 2014 for an average share price of $79.71. As of December 31, 2014, the approximate number of shares still available for repurchase under the May 2012 share repurchase authorization was 38,041. This authorization was canceled and replaced in January 2015 with a new standing share repurchase authorization approved by the Board of Directors, whereby the Company may repurchase up to 15,000,000 shares of its common stock over the following three years.

In November 2012, the Board of Directors approved a $1.0 billion share repurchase program authorizing repurchases of the Company's common shares over the following 12 to 18 months. In 2014, the Company completed this share repurchase program through an accelerated share repurchase transaction, whereby Dover paid $292,565 on March 10, 2014 to receive a variable number of shares on incremental dates through March 31, 2014. The Company repurchased 3,596,980 shares under this transaction for an average share price of $81.06.