Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZO.” On October 23, 2017, there were 2,347 stockholders of record, which does not include the number of beneficial owners whose shares were represented by security position listings.

We currently do not pay a dividend on our common stock. Our ability to pay dividends is subject to limitations imposed by Nevada law. Any future payment of dividends would be dependent upon our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and cash flow.

The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices per share of common stock, as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, for the periods indicated:

During 1998, the Company announced a program permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by the Company’s Board of Directors. The program was most recently amended on March 21, 2017, to increase the repurchase authorization by $750 million bringing total value of authorized share repurchases to $18.65 billion.

Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company during the quarter ended August 26, 2017, were as follows:

The Company also repurchased, at market value, an additional 12,455 shares in fiscal 2017, 12,460 shares in fiscal 2016, and 15,594 shares in fiscal 2015 from employees electing to sell their stock under the Company’s Sixth Amended and Restated Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “Employee Plan”), qualified under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code, under which all eligible employees may purchase AutoZone’s common stock at 85% of the lower of the market price of the common stock on the first day or last day of each calendar quarter through payroll deductions. Maximum permitted annual purchases are $15,000 per employee or 10 percent of compensation, whichever is less. Under the Employee Plan, 14,205 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2017, 12,662 shares in fiscal 2016, and 14,222 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2015. At August 26, 2017, 178,300 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under the Employee Plan.

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Once executives have reached the maximum purchases under the Employee Plan, the Fifth Amended and Restated Executive Stock Purchase Plan (the “Executive Plan”) permits all eligible executives to purchase AutoZone’s common stock up to 25 percent of his or her annual salary and bonus. Purchases by executives under the Executive Plan were 1,865 shares in fiscal 2017, 1,943 shares in fiscal 2016, and 2,229 shares in fiscal 2015. At August 26, 2017, 239,888 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under the Executive Plan.

Stock Performance Graph

The graph below presents changes in the value of AutoZone’s stock as compared to Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index (“S&P 500”) and to Standard & Poor’s Retail Index (“S&P Retail Index”) for the five-year period beginning August 25, 2012 and ending August 26, 2017.

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