SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Share Repurchase Program

Share repurchase program

NOTE 9 – SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

In January of 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program.  Under the program, the Company may, from time to time, repurchase shares of its common stock, solely through open market purchases effected through a broker dealer at prevailing market prices, based on a variety of factors such as price, corporate trading policy requirements and overall market conditions.  The Company’s Board of Directors may increase or otherwise modify, renew, suspend or terminate the share repurchase program at any time, without prior notice.  As announced on February 10, 2021, May 27, 2021, and November 17, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors each time approved a resolution to increase the authorization amount under the share repurchase program by an additional $1.0 billion, $1.5 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, resulting in a cumulative authorization amount of $18.8 billion.  Each additional authorization is effective for a three-year period, beginning on its respective announcement date.  

The following table identifies shares of the Company’s common stock that have been repurchased as part of the Company’s publicly announced share repurchase program for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands, except per share data):

	For the Year Ended
	December 31,
	2021		2020
Shares repurchased		4,537		4,832
Average price per share	$	545.78	$	431.93
Total investment	$	2,476,003	$	2,087,146

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had $2.01 billion remaining under its share repurchase program.  Subsequent to the end of the year and through February 28, 2022, the Company repurchased an additional 0.6 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program, at an average price of $656.52, for a total investment of $424.1 million.  The Company has repurchased a total of 86.2 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program since the inception of the program in January of 2011 and through February 28, 2022, at an average price of $199.17, for a total aggregate investment of $17.2 billion.  As of February 28, 2022, we had approximately $1.6 billion remaining under our share repurchase program.