After a lull in 2023, stock buybacks are back in vogue this year. Stock buybacks by S&P 500 companies increased 9.9% year over year and 8.1% sequentially in the first quarter of 2024. The 20 largest companies in the S&P 500 accounted for roughly half of the quarter's buybacks, with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) leading the way. As many as 352 companies repurchased shares worth at least $5 million in the quarter, up from 313 in the fourth quarter of 2023 but slightly down from 358 in the year-ago quarter. 380 companies did some buybacks, up from 373 in the previous quarter and down from 390 in the year-ago quarter. Buyback Boosters Information Technology sector maintained its lead, representing 24.2% of total buybacks for the quarter. Tech giant Apple dominated the ...