Shareholders' Equity

6 Months Ended

Mar. 26, 2016

Shareholders' Equity

Note 7 – Shareholders’ Equity

Dividends

The Company declared and paid cash dividends per share during the periods presented as follows:

	Dividends Per Share		Amount (in millions)
2016:
Second quarter	$	0.52	$	2,879
First quarter		0.52		2,898
Total cash dividends declared and paid	$	1.04	$	5,777
2015:
Fourth quarter	$	0.52	$	2,950
Third quarter		0.52		2,997
Second quarter		0.47		2,734
First quarter		0.47		2,750
Total cash dividends declared and paid	$	1.98	$	11,431

Future dividends are subject to declaration by the Board of Directors.

Share Repurchase Program

In 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization to $140 billion of the Company’s common stock, of which $117 billion had been utilized as of March 26, 2016. The Company’s share repurchase program does not obligate it to acquire any specific number of shares. Under the program, shares may be repurchased in privately negotiated and/or open market transactions, including under plans complying with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

The Company has entered, and in the future may enter, into accelerated share repurchase arrangements (“ASRs”) with financial institutions. In exchange for up-front payments, the financial institutions deliver shares of the Company’s common stock during the purchase periods of each ASR. The total number of shares ultimately delivered, and therefore the average repurchase price paid per share, is determined at the end of the applicable purchase period of each ASR based on the volume weighted-average price of the Company’s common stock during that period. The shares received are retired in the periods they are delivered, and the up-front payments are accounted for as a reduction to shareholders’ equity in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets in the periods the payments are made. The Company reflects the ASRs as a repurchase of common stock in the period delivered for purposes of calculating earnings per share and as forward contracts indexed to its own common stock. The ASRs met all of the applicable criteria for equity classification, and therefore were not accounted for as derivative instruments.

The following table shows the Company’s ASR activity and related information during the six months ended March 26, 2016 and the year ended September 26, 2015:

	Purchase Period End Date		Number of Shares (in thousands)		Average Repurchase Price Per Share		ASR Amount (in millions)
November 2015 ASR		April 2016		20,382 (1)	$	(1)	$	3,000
May 2015 ASR		July 2015		48,293	$	124.24	$	6,000
August 2014 ASR		February 2015		81,525	$	110.40	$	9,000
January 2014 ASR		December 2014		134,247	$	89.39	$	12,000

⁽¹⁾  “Number of Shares” represents those shares delivered in the beginning of the purchase period and does not represent the final number of shares to be delivered under the ASR. The total number of shares ultimately delivered, and therefore the average repurchase price paid per share, will be determined at the end of the applicable purchase period based on the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock during that period. The November 2015 ASR purchase period will end in or before April 2016.

Additionally, the Company repurchased shares of its common stock in the open market, which were retired upon repurchase, during the periods presented as follows:

	Number of Shares (in thousands)		Average Repurchase Price Per Share		Amount (in millions)
2016:
Second quarter		71,766	$	97.54	$	7,000
First quarter		25,984	$	115.45		3,000
Total open market common stock repurchases		97,750			$	10,000
2015:
Fourth quarter		121,802	$	115.15	$	14,026
Third quarter		31,231	$	128.08		4,000
Second quarter		56,400	$	124.11		7,000
First quarter		45,704	$	109.40		5,000
Total open market common stock repurchases		255,137			$	30,026