Item 5. Market for the Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
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Item 5. Market for the Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
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Market Information
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SPG". The quarterly price range for the shares and the dividends declared per share for each quarter in the last two fiscal years are shown below:
| High | Low | Close | Declared Dividends | ||||||||||
| 2014 | |||||||||||||
| 1st Quarter | $ | 164.93 | $ | 149.60 | $ | 164.00 | $ | 1.25 | |||||
| 2nd Quarter | 177.31 | 162.56 | 166.28 | 1.30 | |||||||||
| 3rd Quarter | 173.31 | 162.43 | 164.42 | 1.30 | |||||||||
| 4th Quarter | 188.18 | 163.41 | 182.11 | 1.30 | |||||||||
| 2015 | |||||||||||||
| 1st Quarter | $ | 206.31 | $ | 178.84 | $ | 195.64 | $ | 1.40 | |||||
| 2nd Quarter | 202.28 | 170.99 | 173.02 | 1.50 | |||||||||
| 3rd Quarter | 200.23 | 171.87 | 183.72 | 1.55 | |||||||||
| 4th Quarter | 208.14 | 180.55 | 194.44 | 1.60 |
There is no established public trading market for Simon's Class B common stock. Dividends on the Class B common stock are identical to the common stock.
Holders
The number of holders of record of common stock outstanding was 1,274 as of December 31, 2015. The Class B common stock is subject to two voting trusts as to which Herbert Simon and David Simon are the trustees. Shares of Class B common stock convert automatically into an equal number of shares of common stock upon the occurrence of certain events and can be converted into shares of common stock at the option of the holders.
Dividends
We must pay a minimum amount of dividends to maintain our status as a REIT. Our future dividends and future distributions of the Operating Partnership will be determined by our Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, based on actual and projected financial condition, liquidity and results of operations, cash available for dividends and limited partner distributions, cash reserves as deemed necessary for capital and operating expenditures, financing covenants, if any, and the amount required to maintain our status as a REIT.
Common stock cash dividends during 2015 aggregated $6.05 per share. Common stock cash dividends during 2014 aggregated $5.15 per share. In January 2016, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.60 per share of common stock payable on February 29, 2016 to stockholders of record on February 12, 2016.
We offer a dividend reinvestment plan that allows our stockholders to acquire additional shares by automatically reinvesting cash dividends. Shares are acquired pursuant to the plan at a price equal to the prevailing market price of such shares, without payment of any brokerage commission or service charge.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
During the fourth quarter of 2015, we issued an aggregate of 2,489 shares of common stock to limited partners of the Operating Partnership in exchange for an equal number of units pursuant to the partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership, as follows:
1,989 shares on December 14, 2015, and
500 shares on November 9, 2015.
In each case, the issuance of the shares of common stock was exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Issuances Under Equity Compensation Plans
For information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, see Item 12 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
There were no purchases of equity securities made during the fourth quarter of 2015.
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