GE Aerospace (GE)

[Elmer Phud]

hopester

Options granted to Execs, others, subsequently exercised could be part of the answer. Once exercised they go into the float.
Part pymt for purchases in acquistions could account for some others.

Options and outright grants almost certainly account for some of the buybacks, how much I wouldn't know. Your other suggestion about acquisitions is also a possibility, even likely. What bothers me is that the options and grants are a hidden form of compensation that we shareholders are paying "off the books" so to speak.