Pfizer launches $5 billion accelerated stock repurchase program
Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday that it launched a $5 billion accelerated share repurchase program with Goldman, Sachs & co. , to be settled during the second quarter of 2016. The drug giant said 136 million of the shares repurchased will be received on March 10. At Tuesday's closing price of $29.36 for Pfizer's stock, $5 billion would repurchase 170.3 million shares, 2.8% of the shares outstanding. Pfizer's stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 9.1% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 2.7%.
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