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

Market Information for Common Stock

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “MTD.” The following table sets forth on a per share basis the high and low sales prices for consolidated trading in our common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape for the quarters indicated.

Holders

At January 30, 2017, there were 56 holders of record of common stock and 25,940,008 shares of common stock outstanding. We estimate we have approximately 58,068 beneficial owners of common stock.

Dividend Policy

Historically, we have not paid dividends on our common stock. However, we will evaluate this policy on a periodic basis taking into account our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, including potential acquisitions, our share repurchase program, the taxation of dividends to our shareholders, and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

Share Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total returns (assuming reinvestment of dividends) on $100 invested on December 31, 2011 through December 31, 2016 in our common stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Index (S&P 500 Index), and the SIC Code 3826 Index — Laboratory Analytical Instruments.

Comparison of Cumulative Total Return Among Mettler-Toledo International Inc., the

S&P 500 Index and SIC Code 3826 Index — Laboratory Analytical Instruments

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

We have a share repurchase program of which there was $983.4 million common shares remaining to be repurchased under the program as of December 31, 2016. The share repurchases are expected to be funded from cash balances, borrowings, and cash generated from operating activities. Repurchases will be made through open market transactions, and the amount and timing of purchases will depend on business and market conditions, the stock price, trading restrictions, the level of acquisition activity, and other factors.

We have purchased 26.0 million common shares since the inception of the program in 2004 through December 31, 2016, at a total cost of $3.5 billion. During the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, we spent $500 million and $495 million on the repurchase of 1,348,507 shares and 1,556,797 shares at an average price per share of $370.75 and $317.92, respectively. We reissued 278,623 shares and 403,908 shares held in treasury for the exercise of stock options and restricted stock units during 2016 and 2015, respectively.