NYCB 2017 Annual Report

33 Share Repurchases Shares Repurchased Pursuant to the Company’s Stock -Based Incentive Plans Participants in the Company’s stock -based incentive plans may have shares of common stock withheld to fulfill the income tax obligations that arise in connection with their exercise of stock options and the vesting of their stock awards. Shares that are withheld for this purpose are repurchased pursuant to the terms of the applicable stock-based incentive plan, rather than pursuant to the share repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors described below. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, the Company allocated $18.5 million toward the repurchase of shares of its common stock, including $7.5 million in the fourth quarter, as indicated in the following table: (dollars in thousands, except per share data) Period Total Shares of Common Stock Repurchased Average Price Paid per Common Share Total Allocation First Quarter 2017 648,793 $15.62 $10,132 Second Quarter 2017 37,414 13.43 502 Third Quarter 2017 26,670 12.89 344 Fourth Quarter 2017: October 7,399 12.88 95 November 2,686 12.86 35 December 561,411 13.10 7,355 Total Fourth Quarter 2017 571,496 13.10 7,485 2017 Total 1,284,373 $14.37 $18,463 Shares Repurchased Pursuant to the Board of Directors’ Share Repurchase Authorization On April 20, 2004, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to five million shares of the Company’s common stock. Of this amount, 1,659,816 shares were sti ll available for repurchase at December 31, 2017. Under said authorization, shares may be repurchased on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. No shares have been repurchased under this authorization since August 2006. Shares that are r epurchased pursuant to the Board of Directors’ authorization, and those that are repurchased pursuant to the Company’s stock -based incentive plans, are held in our Treasury account and may be used for various corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, merger transactions and the vesting of restricted stock awards.