Fidelity National Information Services Inc. said recently that its board approved the repurchase of $250 million in shares. The provider of technology services to financial institutions also recently announced that its first-quarter earnings rose 18 percent. Net income jumped to $70.5 million, or 36 cents per share, from $59.5 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago. Earnings adjusted to exclude certain items rose 15 percent to $312.3 million, or 57 cents per share. Analysts expected that result to be 58 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial. The stock has a forward PE of 11.

Business software company Tibco Software Inc. said Monday it plans to buy back up to $300 million of its shares. The new program replaces Tibco's previous $300 million repurchase program, under which there was about $70 million still remaining. The stock has a forward PE of 14.

Cymer Inc., which makes lasers used in semiconductor manufacturing, said Monday it plans to repurchase up to $100 million of its shares in open market or private transactions. The laser manufacturer also recently posted a first-quarter profit that surpassed analyst predictions and issued an optimistic outlook. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s board approved $1.5 billion to repurchase shares in the next two years, the financial services firm said Tuesday. Ameriprise plans to finance the move through existing capital, future earnings and traditional borrowings. The stock trades for 5x cash flow.

Drug maker Alpharma Inc. said recently that its board authorized a $150 million share repurchase program. The company also said that, because of the sale of its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients unit on April 1, it now projects 2008 earnings per share from continuing operations between 15 cents and 35 cents, excluding the effect of any milestone payments from 2007 licensing agreements. That's down from the earnings of 30 cents per share to 50 cents per share projected in December 2007, and less than the 23 cents per share currently expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Piper Jaffray Cos. authorized the repurchase of $100 million in shares, the investment bank said Wednesday. Piper said the move is to offset the dilutive effect of employee stock grants, which, when they vest, increase the number of shares outstanding. The company also announced a Q1 loss of $3.4 million, or 22 cents per share, compared to net income of $15.1 million, or 97 cents per share a year ago. CEO Andrew Duff al said in a statement that the "disappointing" results were caused by the lowest equity underwriting activity the company has seen in the past five years, and a net loss in high yield and structured products sales and trading. The company' results also included a severance charge related to reducing headcount, Duff said. The company said it expects "weakness in the equity environment" to continue through the second quarter.

Hansen Natural, maker of the Monster energy drink, said it would buy back up to $200 million worth of common stock a day after shares of the company had touched a 52-week low. Under the previous $200 million authorization, all but $60 million worth of stock has been repurchased. "We expect investors to be pleased by the decision to utilize the strong balance sheet to benefit shareholders," Judy Hong, beverage analyst at Goldman Sachs, said. The stock trades for 12x cash flow.

Houston's oilfield services giant announced a new $8 billion buyback program which is to be completed by December 2011. This new buyback comes on top of the company's previously announced 40-million share repurchase program, which as of March 31st had 3.1 million shares left to repurchase. Schlumberger recently reported first quarter earnings with net income jumping 13%. The company said revenue rose from $1.18 billion to $1.34 billion and CEO Andrew Gould said the company will meet 2008 estimates and that growth will increase in the next year. Reports from Bloomberg said that since national oil companies from Russia and Saudi Arabia are trying to develop their own reserves and exclude international companies like Exxon, they are depending more on oilfield service firms such as Schlumberger. Analyst at Tristone Capital like what they see when they look into Schlumberger's future and awarded the stock with an outperform rating and increased their price target from $112 to $135. In a research note, they said the first quarter of 2008 will turn out to be the weakest quarter and that drilling activity is likely to pick up significantly this year. It’s also important to note that Director Philippe Camus finds value in the stock and decided to purchase 1,000 shares for his own account. So we have a buyback, solid earnings, a director buying shares, increased price targets, and 2 well known investors into the stock. It may be time to do some additional homework on SLB.