Drugmaker Allergan (AGN) and smartphone king Apple (AAPL), a member of the Dow Jones industrial average, were the two leaders in stock buybacks for the fourth quarter of 2016, followed by Citigroup (C) and Microsoft (MSFT), says a report by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Overall, companies in the S&P 500 index spent $135.3 billion on stock buybacks during the period, up 21% from the third quarter but down 7% year over year. The all-time high is $172 billion from the third quarter of 2007.
For the year, companies in the S&P 500 spent $536.4 billion on buybacks, down 6.3% from 2015, while buybacks in 2014 fell 3%. The press release noted that the last time S&P 500 issues reduced buyback payments in consecutive years was in 2008 and 2009.
Buybacks remained concentrated, as the top 20 issues accounted for 46.7% of the total fourth-quarter 2016 expenditures.
Share repurchases are a popular way to return capital to shareholders, tending to boost a stock and per-share earnings, while dividends put cash in shareholders' hands.
Allergan spent $12.3 billion on buybacks in the fourth quarter, the seventh-largest quarterly purchase by an S&P 500 company.
Apple, a Dow stock, came in second at $10.9 billion. Apple, which is frequently among the biggest spenders on buybacks and dividends, spent $33.7 billion on buybacks last year.
Citigroup was third at $4.1 billion, then Microsoft, a Dow component, at $3.6 billion.
They were followed by Dow stocks General Electric (GE) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).
"While buyback activity has slowed since Q1 2016, the steady growth of dividends indicate a positive development for shareholders," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
With Allergan's giant sum, the health care sector led the S&P 500 in buybacks, spending $28.9 billion in the fourth quarter. In second was the information technology sector, at $28.7 billion.
Allergan shares closed down 0.2% to 233.99 in the stock market today. Apple climbed 1.1% to 141.42, retaking a 141.12 buy point. Microsoft advanced 1.3% to 65.03, finding support at its 50-day line.
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