S&P 500 companies are buying back fewer shares of stock, a phenomenon that could have mixed implications for investors. S&P 500 stock buybacks declined by 17.5 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to a year ago, according to a new report by S&P Global. In the first three months of the year, S&P 500 companies bought back $133.3 billion worth of stocks, down from $161.4 billion in Q1 of 2016. “The expenditures on share buybacks declined as share prices increased, resulting in fewer share repurchases and an impact to EPS growth,” analyst Howard Silverblatt wrote. Devoting less cash to buybacks is seemingly a deliberate strategy for these companies, as S&P Global reports a record level of cash on balance sheets in Q1.Read more