2014五大股票回购盘点

    美式快餐发源企业、《财富》美国500强公司麦当劳（McDonald's）)上周四宣布，它将用200亿美元进行股票回购和派发股息，由此加入了过去18个月企业界的股票回购浪潮。

    200亿美元的数额会让任何一位投资垂涎，但这笔钱需要在回购和派息之间进行分配。与2014年其他公司宣布的股票回购相比，这笔钱只能算是零花钱。

    据Birinyi Associates的数据，今年迄今为止，各家公司已经宣布了376项股票回购计划，总额高达2,610亿美元。这个数字与2012年相比增长了近72%，但与回购创下纪录的2013年相比，略微有所回落。

    回购股票会帮助推高股价，很多分析师将标准普尔500（Standard & Poor's 500 index）创下多次历史新高归功于股票回购的盛行。

    但最近，回购势头开始减弱。跟踪回购比例最大的100家公司的标准普尔500回购指数最近创下了自2012年年中以来的首次下跌。随着股价连创新高，股票回购所产生的推动作用消失，公司投资较长期项目或使用多余现金进行收购变得更有价值。

    据Birinyi收集的数据，下面是今年迄今已经获得授权的5大回购。

1.苹果公司

    《财富》美国500强公司苹果（Apple）)已宣布，将从现金中拿出300亿美元用于股票回购。这个消息让投资者很高兴：股价暴涨，甚至在消息发布一周后，这只股票相对于标准普尔指数在这7天上涨了12%。苹果有一项规模更大、总额高达1300亿美元的资本回报计划，将一直延续到2015年，而这些回购就是这项计划的一部分。

2.富国银行

    作为2014年资本计划的一部分内容，这家总部位于加州旧金山的银行表示将把股票回购量增加3.50亿股，总额达到近170亿美元。它还将派息提高约17%，达到了每股0.35美元。

3.3M公司

    这家Post-it即时贴和思高（Scotch）胶带制造商在2月份授权进行120亿美元的股票回购，取代当前75亿美元的回购计划。《财富》美国500强公司3M公司（3M） 遵循了去年末发表的声明行动。这项声明称，公司在之后4年准备投入100亿美元用于收购，最多将投入220亿美元用于回购。

4.美国电话电报公司

    《财富》美国500强公司美国电话电报公司（AT&T）)也于3月份批准了回购至多3亿股股票的计划，价值约105亿美元。这项回购计划是它过去三年中宣布的第四项回购计划。这家公司自从2012年开始股票回购至今，总计已经回购了7.75亿股的股票。

5.卡特彼勒

    这家总部位于伊利诺伊州皮奥利亚的重型机械制造商于1月份批准了100亿美元的股票回购，预计将在今年一季度回购17亿股股票，以完成先前75亿美元的回购计划。公司CEO道格•奥伯赫尔曼表示，正在进行的回购是“我们的现金流创纪录的结果”。（财富中文网）

    McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500), the all-American fast food Mecca, announced it would put $20 billion towards share repurchases and dividends Thursday, jumping on board the buyback trend that has boomed over the past 18 months.

    A $20 billion number would make any investor salivate, but when divided between buybacks and dividends, it's pocket change compared to the share repurchase announcements other companies have made in 2014.

    So far this year, companies have announced 376 share-repurchase initiatives for a total of $261 billion, according to data from Birinyi Associates. That's nearly 72% higher than 2012, though slightly lower when compared to the same period in 2013, which was a record year for buybacks.

    Repurchasing shares helps boost stock prices and many analysts credit the boom in stock repurchases for pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index to record highs.

    Recently, however, the buyback boom has started to fade. The Standard & Poor's 500 Buyback Index, which tracks the 100 companies with the largest share repurchase ratio, recently recorded its first quarterly decline since mid 2012. As stock prices reach record highs, the boost from share repurchases diminishes, making it more valuable for companies to invest in longer-term projects or use extra cash for acquisitions.

    Here are the top 5 share repurchases authorized so far this year, according to data collected by Birinyi.

1. Apple

    Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) announced that it would put $30 billion of its cash toward share repurchases. The news made investors happy: The stock popped, and even a week later was up 12% relative to the S&P over that same 7-day period. The buybacks were part of a larger $130 billion capital return program that the company said would extend through 2015.

2. Wells Fargo

    As part of its 2014 capital plan, the San Francisco, Calif.-based bank said it would increase its buybacks by 350 million shares, or a total of almost $17 billion. It also boosted its dividend rate by about 17% to $0.35 a share.

3. 3M

    The maker of Post-it notes and Scotch tape authorized a $12 billion stock repurchase program in February, replacing its current $7.5 buyback program. 3M's (MMM, Fortune 500) move followed its announcement late last year that it intends to spend $10 billion on acquisitions and repurchase up to $22 billion of shares over the next four years.

4. AT&T

    AT&T (T, Fortune 500) approved a stock repurchase of up to 300 million shares worth about $10.5 billion in March. The buyback is the fourth initiative announced over the past three years. Since 2012, when the company started its stock buybacks, it has repurchased 775 million of its shares.

5. Caterpillar

    The Peoria, Ill.-based maker of heavy equipment authorized $10 billion in stock repurchases in January and expected to buy back $1.7 billion of its shares in the first quarter this year to complete its previous $7.5 billion repurchase initiative. The ongoing buybacks are "a result of our record cash flow," said CEO Doug Oberhelman.