Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Equity [Abstract]

Equity

Equity

The decrease in common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2018, was primarily due to the repurchases of 9.3 million shares, of which 3.8 million shares were acquired pursuant to the Company's previously announced share repurchase plan. In addition, 5.5 million shares were repurchased from the former CEO and subsequently retired, pursuant to his previously disclosed retirement agreement, at a price of $20.98 per share. As previously announced, these share repurchases were separately approved by the Company's Board of Directors and were not repurchased as part of the Company’s existing share repurchase plan.  The share repurchases in the first quarter of 2018 were partially offset by the issuance of 2.9 million shares of the Company’s common stock under the Company’s stock-based compensation plans. The total net decrease was 6.4 million shares. 

The Company announced a $0.01 per share increase in its quarterly cash dividend rate during the second quarter of 2017, and a further $0.01 per share increase during the first quarter of 2018. As such, the Company recorded a cash dividend of $0.11 during the first quarter of 2018 as compared to a cash dividend of $0.09 per share during the first quarter of 2017. The first quarter 2018 dividend of $30.1 million, was declared on March 9, 2018, and was paid on April 18, 2018.