Companies announced $173 billion in stock buybacks so far this year

Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 20, 113 companies announced stock buybacks totaling $173 billion, the highest level ever at this point in the year, according to Birinyi Associates' Jeffrey Rubin.

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43 companies announced buybacks of more than $500 million:

• Cisco, Feb. 14 — $25 billion
• Wells Fargo, Jan. 23 — $22.6 billion
• PepsiCo, Feb. 13 — $15 billion
• Amgen, Feb. 1 — $10 billion
• Abbvie, Feb. 15 — $10 billion
• Alphabet, Feb. 1 — $8.6 billion
• Visa, Feb. 1 — $7.5 billion
• eBay, Jan. 31 — $6 billion
• Mondelez International, Jan. 31 — $6 billion
• Applied Materials, Feb. 14 — $6 billion
• Lowe's, Jan. 26 — $5 billion
• Celgene, Feb. 14 — $5 billion
• CSX, Feb. 12 — $3.5 billion
• Phillips 66, Feb. 13 — $3.28 billion
• Constellation Brands, Jan. 5 — $3 billion
• Valero Energy, Jan. 24 — $2.5 billion
• Sirius XM, Jan. 23 — $2 billion
• Juniper Networks, Jan. 30 — $2 billion
• Eastman Chemical, Feb. 6 — $2 billion
• Liberty Global, Feb. 14 — $2 billion
• IQVIA, Feb. 14 — $2 billion
• Baxter International, Feb. 20 — $1.5 billion
• Altria, Feb. 1 — $1 billion
• Skyworks, Feb. 5 — $1 billion
• O'Reilly Automotive, Feb. 7 — $1 billion
• Cardinal Health, Feb. 8 — $1 billion
• Lear Corp., Feb. 14 — $953.4 million
• Noble Energy, Feb. 15 — $750 million
• M&T Bank, Feb. 5 — $745 million
• Harley-Davidson, Feb. 5 — $696 million
• VeriSign, Feb. 8 — $586 million
• Robert Half International, Feb. 13 — $546 million

• Carlisle Companies, Feb. 6 — $543 million
• Churchill Downs, Jan. 10 — $500 million
• Visteon, Jan. 16 — $500 million
• Western Digital, Jan. 29 — $500 million
• PulteGroup, Jan. 30 — $500 million
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Jan. 31 — $500 million
• ConocoPhillips, Feb. 1 — $500 million
• Arconic, Feb. 5 — $500 million
• Anadarko Petroleum, Feb. 7 — $500 million
• Voya Financial, Feb. 13 — $500 million
• Aaron's, Feb. 15 — $500 million