humana inc . notes to consolidated financial statements 2014 ( continued ) 15 . stockholders 2019 equity dividends the following table provides details of dividend payments , excluding dividend equivalent rights , in 2015 , 2016 , and 2017 under our board approved quarterly cash dividend policy : payment amount per share amount ( in millions ) .
what was the number of shares of stockholders of record on december 29 , 2017 in millions
on november 2 , 2017 , the board declared a cash dividend of $ 0.40 per share that was paid on january 26 , 2018 to stockholders of record on december 29 , 2017 , for an aggregate amount of $ 55 million . declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends is at the discretion of our board and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change . stock repurchases in september 2014 , our board of directors replaced a previous share repurchase authorization of up to $ 1 billion ( of which $ 816 million remained unused ) with an authorization for repurchases of up to $ 2 billion of our common shares exclusive of shares repurchased in connection with employee stock plans , which expired on december 31 , 2016 . under the share repurchase authorization , shares may have been purchased from time to time at prevailing prices in the open market , by block purchases , through plans designed to comply with rule 10b5-1 under the securities exchange act of 1934 , as amended , or in privately-negotiated transactions ( including pursuant to accelerated share repurchase agreements with investment banks ) , subject to certain regulatory restrictions on volume , pricing , and timing . pursuant to the merger agreement , after july 2 , 2015 , we were prohibited from repurchasing any of our outstanding securities without the prior written consent of aetna , other than repurchases of shares of our common stock in connection with the exercise of outstanding stock options or the vesting or settlement of outstanding restricted stock awards . accordingly , as announced on july 3 , 2015 , we suspended our share repurchase program . on february 14 , 2017 , we and aetna agreed to mutually terminate the merger agreement . we also announced that the board had approved a new authorization for share repurchases of up to $ 2.25 billion of our common stock exclusive of shares repurchased in connection with employee stock plans , expiring on december 31 , 2017 . on february 16 , 2017 , we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement , the february 2017 asr , with goldman , sachs & co . llc , or goldman sachs , to repurchase $ 1.5 billion of our common stock as part of the $ 2.25 billion share repurchase program referred to above . on february 22 , 2017 , we made a payment of $ 1.5 billion to goldman sachs from available cash on hand and received an initial delivery of 5.83 million shares of our common stock from goldman sachs based on the then current market price of humana common stock . the payment to goldman sachs was recorded as a reduction to stockholders 2019 equity , consisting of a $ 1.2 billion increase in treasury stock , which reflected the value of the initial 5.83 million shares received upon initial settlement , and a $ 300 million decrease in capital in excess of par value , which reflected the value of stock held back by goldman sachs pending final settlement of the february 2017 asr . upon settlement of the february 2017 asr on august 28 , 2017 , we received an additional 0.84 million shares as determined by the average daily volume weighted-average share price of our common stock during the term of the agreement of $ 224.81 , bringing the total shares received under this program to 6.67 million . in addition , upon settlement we reclassified the $ 300 million value of stock initially held back by goldman sachs from capital in excess of par value to treasury stock . subsequent to settlement of the february 2017 asr , we repurchased an additional 3.04 million shares in the open market , utilizing the remaining $ 750 million of the $ 2.25 billion authorization prior to expiration. .