Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GPN." The following table provides the intraday high and low prices of our common stock and dividends paid per share for each of the quarters during the year ended December 31, 2017, the 2016 fiscal transition period and the year ended May 31, 2016. We expect to continue to pay our shareholders a dividend, on a quarterly basis, in an amount comparable to the dividends indicated in the table. However, any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, compliance with debt covenants and such other factors as the board of directors deems relevant. Further, our Credit Facility may prohibit us from paying quarterly dividends in excess of $0.01 per share.

As of February 16, 2018, there were 2,384 shareholders of record.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The information regarding our compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance is set forth in "Item 12—Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters" of this Annual Report.

Stock Performance Graph

The following graph compares our cumulative shareholder returns with the Standard & Poor's Information Technology Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index for the year ended December 31, 2017, the 2016 fiscal transition period, and the years ended May 31, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. The line graph assumes the investment of $100 in our common stock, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Standard & Poor's Information Technology Index on May 31, 2012 and assumes reinvestment of all dividends.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

Among Global Payments Inc., the S&P 500 Index

and the S&P Information Technology Index

*$100 invested on May 31, 2012 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends.

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our board of directors has authorized us to repurchase shares of our common stock through any combination of Rule 10b5-1 open market repurchase plans, accelerated share repurchase plans, discretionary open-market purchases or privately negotiated transactions. As of December 31, 2017, the approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under our share repurchase program was $264.9 million remaining available under the board's authorization announced on January 5, 2017. On February 6, 2018, the board increased its authorization to repurchase shares of our common stock to $600 million. The authorizations by the board of directors do not expire, but could be revoked at any time. In addition, we are not required by any of the board's authorizations or otherwise to complete any repurchases by any specific time or at all.

We repurchased and retired 376,309 shares of our common stock at a cost of $34.8 million including commissions, or an average price of $92.51 per share, during the year ended December 31, 2017, as previously authorized; however, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2017.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2017, pursuant to our employee incentive plans, we withheld 81,889 shares at an average price of $96.82 in order to satisfy employees' tax withholding and payment obligations in connection with the vesting of awards of restricted stock, which we withheld at fair market value on the vesting date.