“We do not expect to repurchase any additional shares for the remainder of 2024.”

In context

“e. Same-store pharmacy sales were up over 7% versus the prior year, and same-store prescription volumes increased by nearly 6%. Same-store front store sales were down by about 2% versus the same quarter last year, but up 1% when excluding OTC test kits. As a reminder, the public health emergency was still active during the first quarter of last year. Shifting to liquidity and our capital position. First quarter cash flow from operations was $4.9 billion. We ended the quarter with approximately $1.9 billion of cash at the parent and unrestricted subsidiaries. In the first quarter, we returned $840 million to shareholders through our quarterly dividend. We also completed our $3 billion accelerated share repurchase transaction, retiring approximately 40 million shares in the quarter. We do not expect to repurchase any additional shares for the remainder of 2024. Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter was approximately 4x. This leverage ratio was higher than we expect to maintain on a normalized basis. We remain committed to maintaining our current investment-grade ratings. Turning now to our full year outlook for 2024. As Karen mentioned, we revised our 2024 adjusted EPS guidance to at least $7 to reflect our first quarter results as well as our updated expectations for the remainder of 2024. In our Health Care Benefits segment, we now expect adjusted operating income of at least $3.6 billion, down from our previous guidance of at least $5.4 billion. We now expect our 2024 medical benefit ratio to be approximately 89.8%, an increase of 210 basis points from our previous guidance. In the first quarter, Health Care Benefits medica”