RE:RE:Share PurchasesJoeBravo1... I think you only want to see what you want to see and refuse to see the reality no matter how many times I state it..... But I will state it again.. Buybacks are short term pain for long term gain hopefully for shareholders.
Company by your words "they have repurchased close to 67 million shares for a total sum of $1.365 Billion."
In that same time, how much has the company saved in dividend payments? !!!!!! More or Less than $1.365 Billion?
REALITY, LESS, much much much less!!!!!!!!!!
Eventually though, after several years the company will start to save more than they spent...... But that's not for many years have gone by.
Buybacks are a long long long term strategy for shareholders. You start to save immediately, but it's tiny amount you save immediately, but it's continuous.
Turtle (small) saving each quarter...... adds up.... and eventually wins the race.
LONG TERM view..... buybacks.