Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Sep. 24, 2016

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

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:
Fourth quarter	$	0.57	$	3,071
Third quarter	0.57		3,117
Second quarter	0.52		2,879
First quarter	0.52		2,898
Total cash dividends declared and paid	$	2.18	$	11,965
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 April 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization from $140 billion to $175 billion of the Company’s common stock, of which $133 billion had been utilized as of September 24, 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 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 years ended September 24, 2016 and September 26, 2015:

	Purchase Period End Date	Number of Shares (in thousands)		Average Repurchase Price Per Share		ASR Amount   (in millions)
August 2016 ASR	November 2016	22,468	(1)	(1)		$	3,000
May 2016 ASR	August 2016	60,452	(2)	$	99.25	$	6,000
November 2015 ASR	April 2016	29,122		$	103.02	$	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 purchase period based on the volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock during that period. The August 2016 ASR purchase period will end in or before November 2016.

(2) Includes 48.2 million shares delivered and retired at the beginning of the purchase period, which began in the third quarter of 2016, and 12.3 million shares delivered and retired at the end of the purchase period, which concluded in the fourth quarter of 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:
Fourth quarter	28,579	$	104.97	$	3,000
Third quarter	41,238	$	97.00	4,000
Second quarter	71,766	$	97.54	7,000
First quarter	25,984	$	115.45	3,000
Total open market common stock repurchases	167,567			$	17,000
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