Stock buybacks can be used to offset stock issued to employees as compensation, or to improve earnings per share by reducing the number of shares by which earnings are divided. Sometimes, companies repurchase stock simply because they believe their shares are undervalued.
Buyback proponents say they reward these long-term shareholders by effectively increasing their ownership of the company, and they help boost the value of a stock by raising the company's earnings per share. And when there's no other compelling use for a company's cash, this is a better alternative than risky spending on takeovers or other big investments.
But the other view on buybacks is that — like the restaurant removing tables — their only impact is in making things look better than they seem. Yes, earnings per share rise, but that's not because earnings are growing. Even their fiercest proponents — somewhat hypocritically — say they're overused.
With that in mind, I've compiled all stocks with a billion dollar buyback announcement during the year 2016. In total, there are exactly 82 companies with such a big share buyback volume.
Here are the results...
|
Symbol
|
Company Name
|
Buyback
|
|
AAPL
|
Apple Inc.
|
$175 Blln
|
|
MSFT
|
Microsoft Corporation
|
$40 Bln
|
|
CSCO
|
Cisco Systems Inc.
|
$15 Bln
|
|
AGN
|
Allergan Inc.
|
$15 Bln
|
|
GILD
|
Gilead Sciences Inc.
|
$12 Bln
|
|
MMM
|
3M Co.
|
$10 Bln
|
|
CMCSA
|
Comcast Corp.
|
$10 Bln
|
|
ORCL
|
Oracle Corp.
|
$10 Bln
|
|
AGN
|
Allergan Inc.
|
$10 Bln
|
|
GM
|
General Motors Company
|
$9 Bln
|
|
UPS
|
United Parcel Service
|
$8 Bln
|
|
CBS
|
CBS Corp.
|
$6 Bln
|
|
AMZN
|
Amazon.com Inc.
|
$5 Bln
|
|
AIG
|
American International Group
|
$5 Bln
|
|
HON
|
Honeywell International Inc.
|
$5 Bln
|
|
V
|
Visa Inc.
|
$5.0 Bln
|
|
TGT
|
Target Corp.
|
$5 Bln
|
|
YUM
|
Yum! Brands Inc.
|
$4.2 Bln
|
|
MCK
|
McKesson Corp.
|
$4.0 Bln
|
|
CELG
|
Celgene Corporation
|
$3.0 Bln
|
|
AIG
|
American International Group
|
$3.0 Bln
|
|
SMG
|
The Scotts
Miracle-Gro Co.
|
$3 Bln
|
|
CTSH
|
Cognizant Technology Solutions
|
$3.0 Bln
|
|
HPQ
|
HP Inc.
|
$3 Bln
|
|
IBM
|
International Business Machines Corp.
|
$3 Bln
|
|
AIG
|
American International Group,
|
$3.0 Bln
|
|
MET
|
MetLife Inc.
|
$3 Bln
|
|
DFS
|
Discover Financial Services
|
$2.5 Bln
|
|
EBAY
|
eBay Inc.
|
$2.5 Bln
|
|
SIRI
|
Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
MMC
|
Marsh & McLennan Companies
|
$2.5 Bln
|
|
SYMC
|
Symantec Corporation
|
$2.3 Bln
|
|
TJX
|
The TJX Companies, Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
AAL
|
American Airlines Group Inc
|
$2.0 Bln
|
|
AMAT
|
Applied Materials Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
UAL
|
United Continental Holdings Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
RAI
|
Reynolds American Inc
|
$2 Bln
|
|
MSI
|
Motorola Solutions Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
LMT
|
Lockheed Martin Corp.
|
$2.0 Bln
|
|
PPG
|
PPG Industries Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
KSS
|
Kohl`s Corp.
|
$2.0 Bln
|
|
HCA
|
HCA Holdings Inc
|
$2 Bln
|
|
YUM
|
Yum! Brands Inc.
|
$2 Bln
|
|
MNST
|
Monster Beverage Corp.
|
$1.75 Bln
|
|
PRGO
|
Perrigo Co.
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
K
|
Kellogg Company
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
TRI
|
Thomson Reuters Corporation
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
M
|
Macy's Inc.
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
TMO
|
Thermo Fisher Scientific
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
SSP
|
E.W. Scripps Company
|
$1.5 Bln
|
|
STT
|
State Street Corp.
|
$1.4 Bln
|
|
HIG
|
Hartford
Financial Services Group
|
$1.3 Bln
|
|
VMW
|
VMware Inc.
|
$1.2 Bln
|
|
AKAM
|
Akamai Technologies Inc
|
$1 Bln
|
|
WYN
|
Wyndham Worldwide
|
$1 Bln
|
|
DPS
|
Dr. Pepper
Snapple Group, Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
LEA
|
Lear Corporation
|
$1 Bln
|
|
ADI
|
Analog Devices
|
$1 Bln
|
|
ADS
|
Alliance Data Systems Corporation
|
$1 Bln
|
|
ZBH
|
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.
|
$1.0 Bln
|
|
GPS
|
Gap Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
BBY
|
Best Buy Co Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
TEL
|
TE Connectivity Ltd.
|
$1.0 Bln
|
|
ROK
|
Rockwell Automation Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
WHR
|
Whirlpool Corp.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
FFIV
|
F5 Networks Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
CAH
|
Cardinal Health Inc
|
$1 Bln
|
|
XL
|
XL Group plc
|
$1 Bln
|
|
XLNX
|
Xilinx Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
LNC
|
Lincoln National Corp.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
RHT
|
Red Hat Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
CCL
|
Carnival Corp.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
PHM
|
PulteGroup, Inc.
|
$1.0 Bln
|
|
ODP
|
Office Depot Inc.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
DGII
|
Dollar General Corp
|
$1.0 Bln
|
|
TSCO
|
Tractor Supply
|
$1 Bln
|
|
NTES
|
Netease Inc.
|
$1.0 Bln
|
|
MRVL
|
Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
|
$1 Bln
|
|
CB
|
The Chubb Corporation
|
$1 Bln
|
|
LRCX
|
Lam Research Corporation
|
$1 Bln
|
|
EW
|
Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
|
$1 Bln
|