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.”

Holders

At January 31, 2020, there were 43 holders of record of common stock and 24,052,834 shares of common stock outstanding. We estimate we have approximately 107,895 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.

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Share Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total returns (assuming reinvestment of dividends) on $100 invested on December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2019 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

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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In November 2018, the Company's Board of Directors authorized an additional $2.0 billion to the share repurchase program which has $1.3 billion of remaining availability as of December 31, 2019. The share repurchases are expected to be funded from cash generated from operating activities, borrowings, and cash balances. 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 28.6 million common shares since the inception of the program in 2004 through December 31, 2019, at a total cost of $5.2 billion. During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we spent $775 million and $475 million on the repurchase of 1,094,648 shares and 802,809 shares at an average price per share of $707.97 and $591.65, respectively. We reissued 298,002 shares and 183,379 shares held in treasury for the exercise of stock options and restricted stock units during 2019 and 2018, respectively.

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