Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

18. 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, 2015 and 2014, 256,112,943 and 255,892,502 shares of common stock were issued, and the Company had 101,109,186 and 92,880,644 treasury shares, held at cost, respectively.

Share Repurchases

Share repurchases were as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Shares repurchased in the open market	8,228,542		7,467,228		6,005,880
Shares repurchased from holders of employee stock options	—		—		5,951
Total shares repurchased	8,228,542		7,467,228		6,011,831
Average price paid per share	$	72.94	$	80.50	$	76.16

In January 2015, the Board of Directors approved a new standing share repurchase authorization, whereby the Company may repurchase up to 15,000,000 shares of its common stock over the following three years. This plan replaced all previously authorized repurchase programs. During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company purchased 8,228,542 shares of its common stock under this authorization at a total cost of $600,164, or $72.94 per share. As of December 31, 2015, the number of shares still available for repurchase under the January 2015 share repurchase authorization was 6,771,458.

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 at a total cost of $308,512, or $79.71 per share.

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. The Company repurchased 6,005,880 shares under this program during 2013 for a total cost of $457,408. In addition, in 2013 the Company repurchased 5,951 shares from employees for a total cost of $463. 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.

Treasury shares increased to 101,109,186 at December 31, 2015 from a balance of 92,880,644 at December 31, 2014.