It would be incorrect of me to use the 4,242,374,240 shares issued by the board of directors of Verizon to determine how much money the investors spent on purchasing shares of Verizon's common stock in any year, correct? It is because the Stockholders' Equity only reveals information that only shows the dividend payment, or amount, distributed to the shareholders. There are two screenshots above. I guess there is no way to actually find out how much all investors spent on purchasing outstanding shares of Verizon's stock for any particular year other than in a hypothetical word problem that makes up an Accounting and/or Finance related homework/classwork problem.

Suppose investors have invested $10,000 in common equity in a company. Given the risk of the company, the investors expect to earn a 12% return, and they expect the company to pay out 100% of income in dividends each year. The required income of the company each period is as follows: REX BV -1 = 0.12 x $10,000 = $1,200 Suppose the investors forecast that the company will generate exactly $1,200 in comprehensive income each year. The investors should compute the residual income of the firm as follows: CI. - (Rg BV-1) = $1,200 (0.12 * $10,000) = $0 Using the residual income approach, investors would value this firm based on book value plus expected future residual income as follows: Vo = BV. + CI, - (REX BV-1) (1+R:)' $1,200 - (0.12 x $10,000) = $10,000+ (1 +0.12) $0 = $10,000+ = $10,000 1=1 (1+0.12) I=1 t=1 40 Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets At December 31, dollar in milions, except per fare amount 2015 2014 Equity Series praterred stock ($.10 par value, none issued Common stock (5.10 par value; 4.242,374,240 shares issued in each period) 424 424 Suppose investors have invested $10,000 in common equity in a company. Given the risk of the company, the investors expect to earn a 12% return, and they expect the company to pay out 100% of income in dividends each year. The required income of the company each period is as follows: REX BV -1 = 0.12 x $10,000 = $1,200 Suppose the investors forecast that the company will generate exactly $1,200 in comprehensive income each year. The investors should compute the residual income of the firm as follows: CI. - (Rg BV-1) = $1,200 (0.12 * $10,000) = $0 Using the residual income approach, investors would value this firm based on book value plus expected future residual income as follows: Vo = BV. + CI, - (REX BV-1) (1+R:)' $1,200 - (0.12 x $10,000) = $10,000+ (1 +0.12) $0 = $10,000+ = $10,000 1=1 (1+0.12) I=1 t=1 40 Verizon Communications Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets At December 31, dollar in milions, except per fare amount 2015 2014 Equity Series praterred stock ($.10 par value, none issued Common stock (5.10 par value; 4.242,374,240 shares issued in each period) 424 424