part ii item 5 2013 market for registrant 2019s common equity , related stockholder matters and issuer purchases of equity securities ( a ) ( 1 ) our common stock is listed on the new york stock exchange and is traded under the symbol 201cpnc . 201d at the close of business on february 16 , 2017 , there were 60763 common shareholders of record . holders of pnc common stock are entitled to receive dividends when declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available for this purpose . our board of directors may not pay or set apart dividends on the common stock until dividends for all past dividend periods on any series of outstanding preferred stock and certain outstanding capital securities issued by the parent company have been paid or declared and set apart for payment . the board of directors presently intends to continue the policy of paying quarterly cash dividends . the amount of any future dividends will depend on economic and market conditions , our financial condition and operating results , and other factors , including contractual restrictions and applicable government regulations and policies ( such as those relating to the ability of bank and non-bank subsidiaries to pay dividends to the parent company and regulatory capital limitations ) . the amount of our dividend is also currently subject to the results of the supervisory assessment of capital adequacy and capital planning processes undertaken by the federal reserve and our primary bank regulators as part of the comprehensive capital analysis and review ( ccar ) process as described in the supervision and regulation section in item 1 of this report . the federal reserve has the power to prohibit us from paying dividends without its approval . for further information concerning dividend restrictions and other factors that could limit our ability to pay dividends , as well as restrictions on loans , dividends or advances from bank subsidiaries to the parent company , see the supervision and regulation section in item 1 , item 1a risk factors , the capital and liquidity management portion of the risk management section in item 7 , and note 10 borrowed funds , note 15 equity and note 18 regulatory matters in the notes to consolidated financial statements in item 8 of this report , which we include here by reference . we include here by reference additional information relating to pnc common stock under the common stock prices/ dividends declared section in the statistical information ( unaudited ) section of item 8 of this report . we include here by reference the information regarding our compensation plans under which pnc equity securities are authorized for issuance as of december 31 , 2016 in the table ( with introductory paragraph and notes ) that appears in item 12 of this report . our stock transfer agent and registrar is : computershare trust company , n.a . 250 royall street canton , ma 02021 800-982-7652 registered shareholders may contact this phone number regarding dividends and other shareholder services . we include here by reference the information that appears under the common stock performance graph caption at the end of this item 5 . ( a ) ( 2 ) none . ( b ) not applicable . ( c ) details of our repurchases of pnc common stock during the fourth quarter of 2016 are included in the following table : in thousands , except per share data 2016 period total shares purchased ( a ) average paid per total shares purchased as part of publicly announced programs ( b ) maximum number of shares that may yet be purchased under the programs ( b ) .
for the fourth quarter of 2016 , what was the total amount spent to repurchase shares ( in thousands ) ?\\n
( a ) includes pnc common stock purchased in connection with our various employee benefit plans generally related to forfeitures of unvested restricted stock awards and shares used to cover employee payroll tax withholding requirements . note 11 employee benefit plans and note 12 stock based compensation plans in the notes to consolidated financial statements in item 8 of this report include additional information regarding our employee benefit and equity compensation plans that use pnc common stock . ( b ) on march 11 , 2015 , we announced that our board of directors approved the establishment of a stock repurchase program authorization in the amount of 100 million shares of pnc common stock , effective april 1 , 2015 . repurchases are made in open market or privately negotiated transactions and the timing and exact amount of common stock repurchases will depend on a number of factors including , among others , market and general economic conditions , regulatory capital considerations , alternative uses of capital , the potential impact on our credit ratings , and contractual and regulatory limitations , including the results of the supervisory assessment of capital adequacy and capital planning processes undertaken by the federal reserve as part of the ccar process . in june 2016 , we announced share repurchase programs of up to $ 2.0 billion for the four quarter period beginning with the third quarter of 2016 , including repurchases of up to $ 200 million related to employee benefit plans . in january 2017 , we announced a $ 300 million increase in our share repurchase programs for this period . in the fourth quarter of 2016 , we repurchased 4.9 million shares of common stock on the open market , with an average price of $ 101.47 per share and an aggregate repurchase price of $ .5 billion . see the liquidity and capital management portion of the risk management section in item 7 of this report for more information on the share repurchase programs under the share repurchase authorization for the period july 1 , 2016 through june 30 , 2017 included in the 2016 capital plan accepted by the federal reserve . 28 the pnc financial services group , inc . 2013 form 10-k .