Published February 17, 2017 2:54pm EST | Updated February 17, 2017 5:05pm EST

Aetna Shares Down Nearly 3% On $4 Bln Share Buyback Authorization; Doubled Quarterly Cash Dividend

Aetna Inc. shares declined as much as 2.94% on heavy volume Friday afternoon after the company announced it was authorizing up to $4 billion for share buybacks and would double its quarterly cash dividend to 50 cents per share. Aetna shares have declined 0.3% over the last three months, compared with a 7.2% rise in the S&P 500 .