Buyback Feeds

General Information

The VerityData Buyback Database includes all open buyback plans initiated since at least 2004 and their corresponding quarterly updates, including special updates.

This data is provided in three primary feeds, which are offered separately.

• Buyback Announcements provides associated details for each buyback announcement. Types of Buyback Announcements include Plan Initiations, Plan Revisions, and Intra-Quarter Buyback Updates (including ASRs, Tender Offers).
• Buyback Quarterly includes Quarterly Buyback Updates and associated details for each buyback repurchase.
• Buyback Special Update includes special or additional updates and the associated details for each one. These types of announcements include Accelerated Share Repurchases (ASRs), Dutch Auctions, and Tender Offers.

Each of these feeds are now provided as a Point-in-Time feed, with additional modern fields. The older (historic) continuous feed dictionaries are documented below as Historic Data Dictionaries.

The newer Point-in-Time feeds are more selective in their trigger criteria: Only buyback-specific fields changing will trigger an update, so consumers will see fewer "updates" that aren't associated with an actual buyback (extraneous updates used to occur on company information changes).

Note that the asof ("as of ") field determines the company information in an update record. For example, if a company ticker changes between the original INSERT and the current UPDATE, the UPDATE will show the new ticker while the INSERT still shows the old one.

Not every data field is available with point-in-time accuracy. Such fields are marked in bold in the tables below. Please see the dictionaries below for more information.

Point-In-Time Data Dictionaries

Buyback Announcements

Header	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cid	VerityData's unique company id. Point-in-Time cusips may differ; cid should be used for consistency. cid Should only be NULL in cases where the record was already in the feed when the cid value was removed; such records will have edit_action = D.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company, as defined by the SEC.
company_name	Name of the company
sector	Sector name
class_status	Denotes the status of the company at the time of the last update. Useful to exclude posthumous edits to inactive companies from your modeling / testing. Point-in-Time feed only - Point-in-Time accuracy starts on 5/1/2010.
mcap	[Not Point-in-Time Data] Market cap of the company on Disclosure Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Disclosure Date).
plan_id	Unique plan ID provided by VerityData.
plan_name	Internally generated name for buyback plan; not intended as a device for grouping repurchase disclosures together. For that purpose, use plan_id.
plan_type	O = Open Market
	A = Accelerated Share Repurchase (ASR)
	D = Dutch Auction
	F = Tender Offer
	P = Private Placement
	N = NCIB ("Normal Course Issuer Bid", used by Canadian companies)
shares_or_dollars	D = Dollar plan
	S = Share plan
	P = A variation of the share plan. Instead of specifying an absolute amount of shares to buyback, a percentage of shares outstanding is used as the target
	B = Has both a dollar and a share limit
is_variable	TRUE if plan is variable, otherwise FALSE
status	Status of the plan: open, closed, expired, replaced, suspended, terminated, completed.
disclosure_type	N - New Plan
	I - Increase in the amount authorized under an existing buyback plan.
	D - Decrease in the amount authorized under an existing buyback plan.
	E - Expiration Date Change. If there are other announcements, e.g., a plan increase, announced at the same time as an expiration date revision, the code of that other event will take precedence.
	S - Suspended. Companies don't always denote when suspended buyback plans are reactivated. As such, we may use the fact that the company began repurchasing stock under the plan as a signal that the plan has been reactivated. Historical suspensions are not complete.
	CT - Terminated (Closed Terminated). Historical Terminations are not complete.
	CR - Replaced (Closed Replaced). Replaces an existing plan that was not complete with a new plan. The new plan will have a separate Initiation record.
	R = Buyback Plan Reinstatement. Prior suspension has been lifted, but no repurchases have yet been disclosed.
	Z - Closed - No Activity. when a company does not state that a buyback plan has expired or has been terminated but we deem that the plan is closed due to inactivity. This is triggered by either: (1) cessation of SEC filings for more than 1 year or (2) no activity or specific mentions to the buyback plan for more than 2 years. Note – there is no source used as a disclosure for "Z" entries, they are solely based on the preceding criteria determined by our knowledge of SEC and buyback disclosures. Due to the lack of Source material, the entry will show Source = “0” (for Other), and Disclosure Date and Effective Date = Insert Date.
	CE - Expired (Closed Expired). (NEW)
	O - Other. (NEW)
formtype	Source of the update either through a specific SEC Form, e.g. 10-Q/10-K/8-K/6-K/20-F/40-F or Others like newswire
disclosure_date	The date the source was filed with the SEC (or PR was published).
effective_date	The date the announcement was made effective.
value	For dollar plan, the disclosed dollar amount. For share related plans, the share amount multiplied by the close price on the disclosure date. If the disclosure date is unavailable, the effective date is used. When disclosuretype = S or T, it is the remaining dollar amount. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
shares	For share related plans, the disclosed share amount. For dollar plans, the dollar amount divided by the close price on the disclosure date. If the disclosure date is unavailable, the effective date is used. When disclosuretype = S or T, it is the remaining share amount. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
pctout	Share Size shares as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. If it is a Dollar Size sharesordollars plan we take the dollar size of the buyback divided by the historical market cap. We use previous quarter end shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet. Variable plans may be represented by -1. A Null or missing value means we are investigating the shares outstanding.
expiration_date	Present only if an Expiration Date was given or revised as part of the disclosure.
reasons	The stated reason(s) for the buyback activity, can be: shares undervalued, increase shareholder value, avoid takeover (poison pill), prevent dilution, offset acquisition/merger, confidence in outlook, reduce shareholders, improve capital structure. This is not always disclosed.
revision_comments	Description of revision.
rowid	This is the unique identifier of each row within the tables. If an edit comes for a specific rowid, you can replace the existing rowid in your table with the latest information.
last_update	The date of the last update for this entry.
split_edit	TRUE if the update is due to a split, otherwise FALSE
edit_action	"U" for update, "D" for delete and "I" for new insert.
asof	The date the record appeared in the feed

Buyback Quarterly

Header	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cid	VerityData's unique company id. Point-in-Time cusips may differ; cid should be used for consistency. cid should only be NULL in cases where the record was already in the feed when the cid value was removed. Such records will have edit_action = D.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company, as defined but the SEC.
company_name	Name of the company.
sector	Sector name
class_status	Denotes the status of the company at the time of the last update. Useful to exclude posthumous edits to inactive companies from your modeling / testing. Point-in-Time accuracy starts on 5/1/2010.
mcap	[Not Point-in-Time Data] Market cap of the company on Disclosure Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Disclosure Date).
plan_id	Unique plan ID provided by VerityData.
plan_name	Internally generated name for buyback plan; not intended as a device for grouping repurchase disclosures together. For that purpose, use planid.
shares_or_dollars	D = Dollar plan
	S = Share plan
	P = A variation of the share plan. Instead of specifying an absolute amount of shares to buyback, a percentage of shares outstanding is used as the target
	B = Has both a dollar and a share limit
special_type	{Blank} = Open Market
	A = Accelerated Share Repurchase (ASR)
	D = Dutch Auction
	F = Tender Offer
	P = Private Placement
quarter	Calendar Quarter referenced in QN’YY format.
archived	Related to Intra-Quarter Updates (disclosure_type I) and returns TRUE or FALSE. TRUE denotes that the Intra-Quarter Update has been archived and the information is contained within a subsequent Quarterly Update for the company. Note: if you are analyzing a company’s quarterly history, you may want to exclude Archived Intra-Quarter Updates to avoid any potential double counting.
disclosure_type	I – Intra-quarter updates usually announced via newswire or Form 8K. We will normally have these announcements in our feed the same day as they are announced. Companies will normally put out an announcement if it is a “Special Type” buyback, but the terms of the buyback are preliminary and amount could be incomplete and subject to revision.
	Q – quarterly updates that we normally get from Form 10-Q/10-Ks. Information is manually extracted by our analyst team, typically within 24 hours.
formtype	Source of the update either through a specific SEC Form, e.g. 10-Q/10-K/8-K/6-K/20-F/40-F or Others like newswire
disclosure_date	The date the source was filed with the SEC (or PR was published).
effective_date	This is date that the Buyback purchase was made effective. For Intra-Quarterly or Quarterly Buyback purchases, we use the same date as the Source Date.
value	For dollar plan, the disclosed dollar amount. For share related plans, the share amount multiplied by the close price on the disclosure date. If the disclosure date is unavailable the effective date is used. When disclosure_type = S or CT, it is the remaining dollar amount. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
shares	For share related plans, it is the disclosed share amount. For dollar plans, it is the dollar amount divided by the close price on the disclosure date. If the disclosure date is unavailable the effective date is used. When disclosure_type = S or CT, it is the remaining share amount. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
pps	Price Per Share. Average price paid: Amount($) bought / Shares bought.
shares_bought_pct_out	[Not Point-in-Time Data] Shares bought as a percentage of outstanding shares. Amount of shares bought {shares} as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. We will use previous quarter shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet.
shares_out_chg	[Not Point-in-Time Data] The change in shares outstanding during the quarter. We will use previous quarter shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet.
remaining_dollars	The dollar value remaining after the buyback. For share plans it is the remaining_shares * pps. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
remaining_shares	The share amount remaining after the buyback. For dollar plans it is the remaining_dollars / pps. Variable plans may be represented by -1.
remaining_pct_out	[Not Point-in-Time Data] Number of shares remaining as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. We will use previous quarter shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet.
trait	N = No repurchase trait
	O = All purchases were made in a single month in the quarter
	A = Single month acceleration. A Single month acceleration is noted when a company purchases the greatest amount of shares in a month with the lowest average PPS for the purchase. The month must also have a >20% increase in shares vs the next highest volume month of the quarter.
rowid	This is the unique identifier of each row within the tables. If an edit comes for a specific RowID, you can replace the existing rowid in your table with the latest information.
last_update	The date of the last update for this entry.
split_edit	TRUE if the update is due to a split, otherwise FALSE
edit_action	"U" for update, "D" for delete and "I" for new insert.
asof	The date the record appeared in the feed

Buyback Special Update

Heading	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cid	VerityData's unique company id. Point-in-Time cusips may differ; cid should be used for consistency. cid should only be NULL in cases where the record was already in the feed when the cid value was removed. Such records will have edit_action = D.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company, as defined but the SEC.
company_name	Name of the company.
sector	Sector name
class_status	Denotes the status of the company at the time of the last update. Useful to exclude posthumous edits to inactive companies from your modeling / testing. Point-in-Time accuracy starts on 5/1/2010.
mcap	[Not Point-in-Time Data] Market cap of the company on Disclosure Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Disclosure Date).
plan_id	Unique plan ID provided by VerityData.
special_type	A = Accelerated Shares Repurchase (ASR)
	D = Dutch Auction
	F = Tender Offer
	P = Private Placement
quarter	Calendar Quarter referenced in QN’YY format.
archived	Returns TRUE if the update has been “Archived,” otherwise FALSE. Note: Periodically, Intra-Quarterly Special Updates are “Archived” and then replaced with a subsequent update when final Quarterly results are disclosed. The subsequent update will contain duplicate information pertaining to the Special Update but will not be archived. This happens most commonly in ASRs where the company discloses additional Quarterly purchases in a subsequent 10-Q. These archived updates should have a corresponding non-archived update with matching “Subtype Source Date” or “Subtype Effective Date,” along with Share and Dollar amounts. You may want to exclude Archived updates to avoid double counting.
initial_disclosure_date	This is the date of the source filing or press release for the Special Update disclosure. If this column is missing or null we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.).Null dates are most common in older entries. Dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format. This column is not present in data before July 2018.
initial_effective_date	This is the date that the Special Update was authorized. It is not uncommon for this to be prior to the Special Type Source Date. For example, a company discloses in a Press Release on July 7 that they have authorized a new ASR that started on July 1. July 1 would be the Effective Date and July 7 is the Source Date. This column is not present in data before July 2018.
expiration_date	If disclosed in the Source Filing, the date that the Special Update is due to expire. Dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format.
initial_value	ASR - The initial dollar amount spent.
	Dutch Auction/Tender Offer - The maximum dollar amount to be spent.
initial_shares	ASR - The initial amount of shares repurchased.
	Dutch Auction/Tender Offer - The initial maximum amount of shares to be repurchased.
initial_pps	ASR - The initial price per share of the shares repurchased.
	Tender Offer - The Price Per Share of the Tender Offer.
pps_floor	The lower limit Price Per Share to be paid in a Dutch Auction.
pps_ceiling	The upper limit Price Per Share to be paid in a Dutch Auction.
settlement_period_length	This is the length of time a Special Update has to settle; displayed as 1 month - 24 months.
est_settlement_date	Calculated from {initial_effective_date} + {settlement_period_length}
reasons	The stated reason(s) for the buyback activity, can be: shares undervalued, increase shareholder value, avoid takeover (poison pill), prevent dilution, offset acquisition/merger, confidence in outlook, reduce shareholders, improve capital structure. This is not always disclosed.
funding_type	How the company funds the Special Update; displayed as Cash on Hand, Cash from Operations, Cash Combination, Debt, Cash and Debt, Sale of Stock, Stock/Cash/Debt or Spin Off/Sale of Subsidiary.
lead_banks	The named bank(s) or manager(s) associated with this update.
asr_restriction	Returns TRUE if there is a restriction to the Open Market Plan from the Special Update, otherwise FALSE.
is_complete	Returns TRUE if complete, otherwise FALSE.
settlement_disclosure_date	This is the date of the source filing or press release which contained the settlement information. If this column is null, we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.). Null dates are most common in older entries. This column is not present before July, 2018.
settlement_effective_date	Date that the Special Update was settled.
final_value	The full dollar amount spent by the company in the Special Update.
final_shares	The full amount of shares repurchased by the company in the Special Update.
final_pps	Final Dollars Amount {subtypefinaldollars} / Final Shares Amount {subtypefinalshares}.
rowid	This is the unique identifier of each row within the tables. If an edit comes for a specific RowID, you can replace the existing RowID in your table with the latest information.
last_update	The date of the last update for this entry.
split_edit	TRUE if the update is due to a split, otherwise FALSE
edit_action	"U" for update, "D" for delete and "I" for new insert.
asof	The date the record appeared in the feed

Historic Data Dictionaries

Buyback Announcements

Header	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company, as defined but the SEC.
companyname	Name of the company.
sector	VerityData's proprietary 2-digit sector classification: Real Estate=8 Basic Materials=10 Energy=11 Consumer Discretionary=12 Telecommunications=13 Financial=14 Healthcare=15 Industrial Goods=16 Consumer Staples=17 Technology=18 Utilities=19 Note -- Sectors in textual format are available upon request.
mcap (Market Cap)	Market cap of the company on Effective Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Effective Date).
effectivedate	The date the announcement was made effective. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
sourcedate	The date the source was filed with the SEC (or PR was published). Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
insertdate	Date that the record was added to the VerityData database. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
disclosuretype	I = Buyback Initiation; when a company initiates a new buyback plan. W = Buyback Initiation on Weakness; when a company initiates a new buyback plan and its stock price is down by more than 15% in the prior ninety days). N = Buyback Plan Increase; when a company increases the amount authorized under an existing buyback plan. D = Buyback Plan Decrease when a company decreases the amount authorized under an existing buyback plan. E = Buyback Expiration Change; when a company revises its expiration date. If there are other announcements, e.g., a plan increase, announced at the same time as an expiration date revision, the code of that other event will take precedence. S = Buyback Plan Suspension; when a company suspends an existing buyback plan. Companies don't always denote when suspended buyback plans are reactivated. As such, we may use the fact that the company began repurchasing stock under the plan as a signal that the plan has been reactivated. Historical suspensions are not complete. T = Buyback Plan Termination; when a company terminates an existing buyback plan. Historical Terminations are not complete . Q = Intra-Quarter Update; when a company announces a quarterly update during the quarter (most ASRs and Tenders fall under this category). R = Buyback Plan Replacement: when the company replaces an existing plan that they did not complete with a new plan. The new plan will have a separate Initiation record. A = Buyback Plan Reinstatement; when a company states that a prior buyback plan suspension has been lifted but no repurchases have yet been disclosed. Z = Closed – No Activity; when a company does not state that a buyback plan has expired or has been terminated but we deem that the plan is closed due to inactivity. This is triggered from either: (1) cessation from submitting SEC filings for more than 1 year or (2) no activity or specific mentions to the buyback plan for more than 2 years. Note – there is no source used as a disclosure for "Z" entries, they are solely based on the preceding criteria determined by our knowledge of SEC and Buyback disclosures. Due to the lack of Source material, the entry will show Source = “0” (for Other), and Disclosure Date and Effective Date = Insert Date.
planname	Internally generated name for buyback plan; not intended as a device for grouping repurchase disclosures together. For that purpose, use PlanID instead.
plan_id	Unique plan ID provided by VerityData.
unique_id	An identifier included for legacy purposes, superseded by {rowid}.
plantype	O = Open Market A = Accelerated Share Repurchase (ASR) D = Dutch Auction F = Tender Offer P = Private Placement N = NCIB (Normal Course Issuer Bid used by Canadian companies)
reason_1	The stated reason(s) for the buyback activity, can be: shares undervalued, increase shareholder value, avoid takeover (poison pill), prevent dilution, offset acquisition/merger, confidence in outlook, reduce shareholders, improve capital structure. This is not always disclosed.
reason_2
reason_2
reason_3
reason_4
specialtype (Special Update Type)	Special Type of Update {Blank} = Open Market or NCIB A = Accelerated Share Repurchase (ASR) D = Dutch Auction F = Tender Offer P = Private Placement See the "Buyback Special Update Feed" dictionary below for details on the special update fields in our database.
source	Source of the update either through a specific SEC Form, e.g. 10-Q/10-K/8-K/6-K/20-F/40-F or Others like newswire
expiration	Present only if an Expiration Date was given or revised as part of the disclosure. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
sharesordollars	D = Dollar plan S = Share plan P = A variation of the share plan. Instead of specifying an absolute amount of shares to buyback, a percentage of shares outstanding is used as the target B = Has both a dollar and a share limit
value	For dollar plan, it is the disclosed dollar amount. For share related plans, it is the share amount multiplied by the intra-day or the close price on the effective date. When Disclosure Type {disclosuretype} = S or T, it is the remaining dollar amount. A value of -1 represents a variable plan.
shares	For share related plans, it is the disclosed share amount. For dollar plans, it is the dollar amount divided by the intra-day or the close price on the effective date. When Disclosure Type {disclosuretype} = S or T, it is the remaining share amount. A value of -1 represents a variable plan.
percentage	For percentage related plans, it is the disclosed percentage amount. For other plans, we derive the percentage by dividing the shares by the latest available quarter end shares outstanding. A value of -1 represents a variable plan.
isvariableauth	Y if the plan is a Variable Authorization Plan, otherwise N.
sharespctofout (Shares as a percentage of outstanding shares)	Share Size {shares} as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. If it is a Dollar Size {sharesordollars} plan we take the dollar size of the buyback divided by the historical market cap. We use previous quarter end shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet. A value of -1 represents a variable plan. A Null value means we are investigating the shares outstanding.
returnprior3mo	(Price from three months prior-- Close price on Effective Date) / Close price on Effective Date
effectivedate_price	Closing stock price on the Effective Date
return6m	These values are present only in historical fields, they are no longer generated for new feeds.
return1yr
return2yr
return 3yr
buyback_initiation (Unusual Events)	An "A" in this field indicates that the buyback generated a Buyback Actionable Unusual Event.
lastupdate	The date of the last update for this entry..
rowid	This is the unique identifier of each row within the tables. If an edit comes for a specific RowID, you can replace the existing RowID in your table with the latest information.
split_edit	Only available in the Edit File -- returns Y if edit was due to a split; returns N if the edit was not related to a split.
edit_action	Only available in the Edit File -- returns a "U" if the edit is an Update to an existing row; returns a "D" if the edit is a Delete of an existing row.

Buyback Quarterly

Header	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company, as defined but the SEC.
companyname	Name of the company.
sector	VerityData's proprietary 2-digit sector classification: Real Estate=8 Basic Materials=10 Energy=11 Consumer Discretionary=12 Telecommunications=13 Financial=14 Healthcare=15 Industrial Goods=16 Consumer Staples=17 Technology=18 Utilities=19 Note -- Sectors in textual format are available upon request.
mcap	Market cap of the company on Effective Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Effective Date).
quarter	Calendar Quarter referenced in QN’YY format.
planname	Description of the plan.
plan_id	Unique plan ID provided by VerityData.
unique_id	An identifier included for legacy purposes, superseded by {rowid}.
sharesordollars	D = Dollar plan S = Share plan P = A variation of the share plan. Instead of specifying an absolute amount of shares to buyback, a percentage of shares outstanding is used as the target B = Has both a dollar and a share limit
specialtype	{Blank} = Open Market A = Accelerated Share Repurchase (ASR) D = Dutch Auction F = Tender Offer P = Private Placement Note: {planid} + {uniqueid} constitute unique key for this file.
updatetype	I – Intra-quarter updates usually announced via newswire or Form 8K. We will normally have these announcements in our feed the same day as they are announced. Companies will normally put out an announcement if it is a “Special Type” buyback, but the terms of the buyback are preliminary and amount could be incomplete and subject to revision. Q – quarterly updates that we normally get from Form 10-Q/10-Ks. Information is manually extracted by our analyst team, typically within 24 hours.
archived	Related to Intra-Quarter Updates (I from Column 12) and returns Y /N. A “Y” denotes that the Intra-Quarter Update has been archived and the information is contained within a subsequent Quarterly Update for the company. Note: if you are analyzing a company’s quarterly history, you may want to exclude Archived Intra-Quarter Updates to avoid any potential double counting.
effectivedate	This is date that the Buyback purchase was made effective. For Intra-Quarterly or Quarterly Buyback purchases, we use the same date as the Source Date. This field is mostly used for Announce feed updates. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
sourcedate	This is the date of the source filing or press release. If this column is null we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.). Null dates are most common in older entries. (Not available before July, 2018). Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
insertdate	Date that the record was added to the VerityData database. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
source	Source of the update either through a specific SEC Form, e.g. 10-Q/10-K/8-K/6-K/20-F/40-F or other.
value	For dollar plan, it is the disclosed dollar amount. For share related plans, it is the share amount multiplied by the intra-day or the close price on the effective date. When Disclosure Type {disclosuretype} = S or T, it is the remaining dollar amount. A value of -1 represents a variable plan.
shares	For share related plans, it is the disclosed share amount. For dollar plans, it is the dollar amount divided by the intra-day or the close price on the effective date. When Disclosure Type {disclosuretype} = S or T, it is the remaining share amount. A value of -1 represents a variable plan.
shares_bought_pct (Shares as a percentage of outstanding shares)	Amount of shares bought {shares} as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. We will use previous quarter shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet.
pps (Price Per Share)	Split-adjusted average buyback price paid: Amount($) bought / Shares bought.
return1yr	These values are present only in historical fields, they are no longer generated for new feeds.
return3yr
returnlast
sharesoutchange	The change in shares outstanding during the quarter.
remainingamount	The dollar value still remains after the buyback. Variable plans are denoted using -1.
remainingshares	The share amount still remains after the buyback. Variable plans are denoted using -1.
shares_remain_pct	Amount of shares remaining as a percentage of the quarter end shares outstanding. We will use previous quarter shares if the referenced quarter shares are not available yet.
insider_alignment	Return "A" (Alignment) if insiders were buying heavily or "C" (Conflict) if insiders were selling heavily alongside large buybacks.
price_alignment	Return L if the company buys back a large amount at historically low price or H if at historically high price.
trait	N = No repurchase trait O = All purchases were made in a single month in the quarter A = Single month acceleration. A Single month acceleration is noted when a company purchases the greatest amount of shares in a month with the lowest average PPS for the purchase. The month must also have a >20% increase in shares vs the next highest volume month of the quarter.
lastupdate	The date of the last update for this entry.
rowid	This is the unique identifier of each row within the tables. If an edit comes for a specific RowID, you can replace the existing RowID in your table with the latest information.
split_edit	Only available in the Edit File -- returns Y if edit was due to a split; returns N if the edit was not related to a split.
edit_action	Only available in the Edit File -- returns a "U" if the edit is an Update to an existing row; returns a "D" if the edit is a Delete of an existing row.

Buyback Special Update

Heading	Description
ticker	Ticker of the company. A ticker with [] denotes companies that are no longer active.
cusip	CUSIP identifier of the company.
companyname	Name of the company.
sector	Company Business Sector. Note: This is a text string, unlike many of the other feeds which provide a sector code, instead
industry	Company Business Industry (usually a sub-category of its sector.)
mcap	Market cap of the company on the Effective Date (Available Quarterly Shares Outstanding * Close Price on Effective Date).
fiscalquarter	The company's listed Fiscal Quarter as indicated in the company’s SEC filing; displayed as Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4.
calquarter	VerityData's designation of a company's Fiscal Quarter to best coincide with a Standard quarterly breakdown; displayed as 1, 2, 3, 4.
calyear	VerityData's designation of a company's Fiscal Year to best coincide with a Standard quarterly breakdown.
archived	Returns Y if the update has been “Archived,” otherwise an N. Note: Periodically, Intra-Quarterly Special Updates are “Archived” and then replaced with a subsequent update when final Quarterly results are disclosed. The subsequent update will contain duplicate information pertaining to the Special Update but will not be archived. This happens most commonly in ASRs where the company discloses additional Quarterly purchases in a subsequent 10-Q. These archived updates should have a corresponding non-archived update with matching “Subtype Source Date” or “Subtype Effective Date,” along with Share and Dollar amounts. You may want to exclude Archived updates to avoid double counting.
effectivedate	This is the date that the Quarterly or Intra-Quarterly update containing the Special Type purchase was effective. In some cases, the only purchase within the Quarterly update was the Special Type purchase, in other cases there are other (non-Special) Quarterly or Intra-Quarterly purchases which are also included. This Effective Date may be different than the Special Type Effective Date since other purchases may have been disclosed in a different source. We advise you to use the Special Type Effective Date if you wish to focus solely on the Special Type updates. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
sourcedate	This is the date of the source filing or press release containing the Quarterly or Intra-Quarterly purchase information. As with the Effective Date, this Source Date may be different than the Special Type Source Date as other purchases for the Quarter may have been disclosed in a different source. We advise you to use the Special Type Source Date to focus solely on the Special Type updates. If this column is null we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.). Null dates are most common in older entries. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes. This column is not present in data before July 2018.
insertdate	Date that this record was added to the VerityData database. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
disclosuretype	A = Accelerated Shares Repurchase (ASR) D = Dutch Auction F = Tender Offer
asrdetailedtype	N = Normal C = Collared (collared plans have a high and low price or amount limit) B = Both
asrcollaredtype	S = Shares D = Dollars
minamount	ASR - If the ASR Detailed Type is Collared, this field is the minimum price per share if Dollars ASR Collared Type, and minimum amount of shares received if Shares ASR Collared Type. Dutch Auction - The lower limit Price Per Share to be paid in the Auction.
maxamount	ASR - If the ASR Detailed Type is Collared, this field is the maximum price per share if Dollars ASR Collared Type, and maximum amount of shares received if Shares ASR Collared Type. Dutch Auction - The upper limit Price Per Share to be paid in the Auction.
settlementperiodlength	This is the length of time a Special Update has to settle; displayed as 1 month - 24 months.
estimated_settlementdate	Calculated from {effectivedate} + {settlementperiodlength}
iscomplete	Y = Plan is fully settled. N = Plan is awaiting settlement.
reason_1	The stated reason(s) for the buyback activity, can be: shares undervalued, increase shareholder value, avoid takeover (poison pill), prevent dilution, offset acquisition/merger, confidence in outlook, reduce shareholders, improve capital structure. This is not always disclosed. We started collecting the Reasons Columns in 2011. Prior to that the data is incomplete.
reason_2
reason_3
reason_4
fundingtype	How the company funds the Special Update; displayed as Cash on Hand, Cash from Operations, Cash Combination, Debt, Cash and Debt, Sale ofStock, or Stock/Cash/Debt.
leadbank_1	The named bank(s) or manager(s) associated with this update.
leadbank_2
restriction	Y = There is a restriction to the Open Market Plan from the Special Update. N = There are no restrictions to the Open Market Plan from the Special Update.
restrictionnotes	If {restriction} is "Y", notes explaining the description
othernotes	General notes describing the special update.
specialtypeeffectivedate	This is the date that the Special Update was authorized. It is not uncommon for this to be prior to the Special Type Source Date. For example, a company discloses in a Press Release on July 7 that they have authorized a new ASR that started on July 1. July 1 would be the Effective Date and July 7 is the Source Date. This column is not present in data before July 2018.
specialtypesourcedate	This is the date of the source filing or press release for the Special Update disclosure. If this column is null we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.).Null dates are most common in older entries. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes. This column is not present in data before July 2018.
specialtypeexpirationdate	If disclosed in the Source Filing, the date that the Special Update is due to expire. Dates are in YYYMMDD format, no dashes.
pregain3m	This and the following four fields indicate close price changes over various periods relative to the Special Type Source Date.
postgain1m
postgain3m
postgain6m
postgain12m
relgain1m	This and the following three fields indicate gains relative to the rest of the company's sector over the specified periods.
relgain3m
relgain6m
relgain12m
initialdollars	ASR - The initial dollar amount spent. Dutch Auction/Tender Offer - The maximum dollar amount to be spent.
initialshares	ASR - The initial amount of shares repurchased. Dutch Auction/Tender Offer - The initial maximum amount of shares to be repurchased.
initialpps	ASR - The initial price per share of the shares repurchased. Tender Offer - The Price Per Share of the Tender Offer.
subtypefinaldollars	The full dollar amount spent by the company in the Special Update.
subtypefinalshares	The full amount of shares repurchased by the company in the Special Update.
subtypefinalpps	Final Dollars Amount {subtypefinaldollars} / Final Shares Amount {subtypefinalshares}.
shoutchange (Change in shares outstanding)	Shares Outstanding at the end of the quarter of the Special Update – Shares Outstanding at the end of the quarter of the previous Source Date.
pctshoutchange (Percentage change in shares outstanding)	Percentage Shares Outstanding at the end of the quarter of the Special Update – Percentage Shares Outstanding at the end of the quarter of the previous Source Date
settlementnotes	Any notes provided, regarding the settlement of the Special Update.
settlementeffectivedate	Date that the Special Update was settled.
settlementsourceshare	This is the date of the source filing or press release which contained the settlement information. If this column is null, we are not able to locate the original source date (the page is no longer valid, etc.). Null dates are most common in older entries. This column is not present before July, 2018.
avgstockprice	Simple average of all closes from the day after the Special Type Source Date to the Settlement Source Date.
finalprice_vs_avgprice	(Final Price Per Share - Average Price Per Share)/ Average Price Per Share
finalprice_vs_initialprice	(Final Price Per Share - Initial Price Per Share ) / Initial Price Per Share
subtypelink	Link to the Special Update source (SEC form or other source), if available
subtypefinallink	Link to the Special Update settlement source, if available.
rowid	A unique identifier for each row of this table (used to identify it for things like updates and edits.)