Note 9 — Stockholders’ Equity

Equity Plans

Restricted stock unit activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is presented below (in thousands, except per share data):

				Weighted-
				Average
	Number of			Grant Date
	Shares			Fair Value
Unvested at December 31, 2017		509		$	37.59
Granted		245			44.01
Vested		(193	)		36.99
Forfeited		(35	)		37.20
Unvested at September 30, 2018		526		$	40.83

Stock option activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 is presented below (in thousands, except per share data and contractual term):

				Weighted -		Weighted -
				Average		Average
				Exercise		Remaining		Aggregate
	Number			Price Per		Contractual		Intrinsic
	of Shares			Share		Term (in years)		Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2017		937		$	35.10
Granted		—			—
Exercised		(267	)		34.92
Forfeited		(24	)		35.39
Outstanding at September 30, 2018		646		$	35.17		5.27	$	6,936
Exercisable at September 30, 2018		538		$	35.31		4.92	$	5,702
Vested and expected to vest at September 30, 2018		646		$	35.17		5.27	$	6,936

In May 2018, stockholders of the Company approved an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which provided for an additional 400,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, to be granted under the plan.

Stock-Based Compensation

Forrester recognizes the fair value of stock-based compensation in net income over the requisite service period of the individual grantee, which generally equals the vesting period. Stock-based compensation was recorded in the following expense categories (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Cost of services and fulfillment	$	1,001	$	1,088	$	3,128	$	3,387
Selling and marketing		261		170		752		535
General and administrative		858		920		2,311		2,501
Total	$	2,120	$	2,178	$	6,191	$	6,423

Forrester utilizes the Black-Scholes valuation model for estimating the fair value of shares subject to purchase under the employee stock purchase plan, which were valued using the following assumptions:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Average risk-free interest rate		2.34	%		0.96	%		1.80	%		0.81	%
Expected dividend yield		1.6	%		1.9	%		1.9	%		1.9	%
Expected life	0.5 Years			0.5 Years			0.5 Years			0.5 Years
Expected volatility		25	%		26	%		22	%		24	%
Weighted average fair value	$	10.87		$	8.50		$	8.72		$	8.32

Dividends

In the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company declared and paid dividends of $10.8 million consisting of a $0.20 per share dividend in each of the first three quarters of 2018. In the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company declared and paid dividends of $10.2 million consisting of a $0.19 per share dividend in each of the first three quarters of 2017. In October 2018, the Company declared a dividend of $0.20 per share payable on December 26, 2018 to shareholders of record as of December 12, 2018.

Treasury Stock

As of September 30, 2018, Forrester’s Board of Directors had authorized an aggregate $535.0 million to purchase common stock under its stock repurchase program including $50.0 million authorized in February 2018. The shares repurchased may be used, among other things, in connection with Forrester’s equity incentive and purchase plans. In the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company repurchased an insignificant number of shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $0.3 million. In the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company repurchased approximately 0.2 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $10.0 million. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company repurchased approximately 0.1 and 1.1 million shares, respectively, of common stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $3.5 and $40.0 million, respectively. From the inception of the program through September 30, 2018, the Company repurchased 16.3 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $474.9 million.