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

Market Information

Our common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol IDXX. The following table shows the quarterly range of high and low sale prices per share of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market for the years 2016 and 2017.

Holders of Common Stock

As of February 6, 2018, there were 460 holders of record of our common stock. Because the majority of our common stock is held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer

During the three months ended December 31, 2017, we repurchased shares of common stock as described below:

(1) As of December 31, 2017, our Board of Directors had approved the repurchase of up to 68 million shares of our common stock in the open market or in negotiated transactions pursuant to the Company’s share repurchase program. The program was approved and announced on August 13, 1999, and the maximum number of shares that may be purchased under the program was subsequently increased on each of October 4, 1999, November 16, 1999, July 21, 2000, October 20, 2003, October 12, 2004, October 12, 2005, February 14, 2007, February 13, 2008, February 10, 2010, October 12, 2011, May 7, 2013, July 16, 2014, and June 15, 2015. Effective May 2, 2017, an additional 3 million shares of our common stock was authorized for repurchase, increasing the total shares of common stock authorized to be repurchased by the Company up from 65 million to 68 million shares. There is no specified expiration date for this repurchase program. There were no other repurchase programs outstanding during the three months ended December 31, 2017, and no repurchase programs expired during the period. Repurchases of 351,143 shares were made during the three months ended December 31, 2017, in transactions made pursuant to our repurchase program.

(2) During the three months ended December 31, 2017, we received 1,563 shares of our common stock that were surrendered by employees in payment for the minimum required withholding taxes due on the vesting of restricted stock units and settlement of deferred stock units. In the above table, these shares are included in columns (a) and (b), but excluded from columns (c) and (d). These shares do not reduce the number of shares that may yet be purchased under the repurchase program.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we repurchased 1,749,416 shares of our common stock in transactions made pursuant to our repurchase program and received 56,638 shares of common stock that were surrendered by employees in payment for the minimum required withholding taxes due on the vesting of restricted stock units and settlement of deferred stock units. See Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. From time to time our Board of Directors may consider the declaration of a dividend. However, we have no intention to declare or pay a dividend at this time.

Stock Performance

This graph compares our total stockholder returns, the Total Return for the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index, the Total Return for the S&P 500 Health Care Index, and the Total Return for the NASDAQ Stock Market Index (U.S. Companies) prepared by the Center for Research in Security Prices (the “NASDAQ Index”). This graph assumes the investment of $100 on December 31, 2012, in IDEXX’s common stock, the S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Health Care Index, and the NASDAQ Index and assumes dividends, if any, are reinvested. Measurement points are the last trading days of the years ended December 2012 to 2017.