combined sales to academic and governmental customers increased 2 % in 2019 and 8 % in 2018 , with the effect of foreign currency translation decreasing sales by 1 % in 2019 and increasing sales by 1 % in 2018. sales to academic and governmental customers are highly dependent on when institutions receive funding to purchase our instrument systems and , as such , sales growth rates can vary significantly from period to period . operating income was $ 708 million in 2019 , a decrease of 4 % as compared to 2018. this decrease can be attributed to lower sales volume , the effect of foreign currency translation and $ 10 million of severance-related costs in connection with a reduction in workforce that occurred in early 2019 , offset by lower variable incentive compensation costs . 27 operating income increased 12 % in 2018 as compared to 2017. this increase was primarily a result of the effect of higher sales volume achieved in 2018 , as well as the effect of approximately $ 33 million of facility closure , litigation and intellectual property payment charges from 2017 that did not recur in 2018. the company 's effective tax rates were 12.7 % , 13.0 % and 96.8 % for 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . net income per diluted share was $ 8.69 , $ 7.65 and $ 0.25 in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . in 2018 , the company settled a pension plan obligation and incurred a $ 46 million expense which reduced the net income per diluted share by $ 0.39. in 2017 , the company incurred a $ 550 million income tax provision related to the 2017 tax cuts and jobs act ( “ 2017 tax act ” ) which reduced the net income per diluted share by $ 6.82 , and excluding the 2017 tax act income tax provision , the company 's effective tax rate in 2017 would have been 11.0 % . the company generated $ 643 million , $ 604 million and $ 698 million of net cash flows from operations in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the increase in operating cash flow in 2019 was primarily a result of payments made in 2018 that did not recur , including $ 103 million of income tax payments made in the u.s. relating to the company 's estimated 2017 transition tax liability and 2018 estimated tax payments , a $ 15 million litigation settlement payment and $ 11 million of contributions to certain defined benefit pension plans . included in the 2019 net cash flow from operations is $ 29 million of income tax payments made in the u.s. in relation to the 2017 transition tax liability . over the next three years , the company is required to make annual u.s. federal tax payments of approximately $ 38 million to tax authorities in connection with the company 's estimated remaining transition tax liabilities of $ 404 million under the 2017 tax act . the final 60 % of the total liability is required to be paid over a three-year period beginning in 2023. cash flows used in investing activities included capital expenditures related to property , plant , equipment and software capitalization of $ 164 million , $ 96 million and $ 85 million in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . in 2019 , $ 68 million of capital expenditures paid related to the expansion of the company 's precision chemistry consumable operations in the u.s. the company has incurred $ 85 million of costs for this facility through the end of 2019. in 2018 , the company acquired the sole intellectual property rights to the desorption electrospray ionization ( “ desi ” ) imaging technology for $ 30 million in cash and a future contractual obligation to pay a minimum royalty of $ 3 million over the remaining life of the patent . desi is a mass spectrometry imaging technique that is used to develop medical therapies . in january 2019 , the company 's board of directors authorized the company to repurchase up to $ 4 billion of its outstanding common stock over a two-year period . during 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , the company repurchased 11.1 million , 6.8 million and 1.8 million shares of the company 's outstanding common stock at a cost of $ 2.5 billion , $ 1.3 billion and $ 323 million , respectively , under the january 2019 authorization and other previously announced programs . as of december 31 , 2019 , the company has a total of $ 1.7 billion authorized for future repurchases . the company believes that it has the financial flexibility to fund these share repurchases given current cash and investment levels and debt borrowing capacity , as well as to invest in research , technology and business acquisitions to further grow the company 's sales and profits . in september 2019 , the company issued fixed interest rate senior unsecured notes with an aggregate principal amount of $ 500 million , of which $ 200 million of the outstanding notes matures in seven years and the remaining $ 300 million matures in 10 years . the company used the proceeds from the issuance of these senior unsecured notes to repay other outstanding debt and for general corporate purposes . during 2019 and 2018 , the company entered into $ 260 million and $ 300 million , respectively , of u.s.-to-euro interest rate cross-currency swap agreements that hedge the company 's net investment in its euro denominated net assets , bringing the total currency interest rate cross-currency swap agreement notional value to $ 560 million at december 31 , 2019. as a result of entering into these agreements , the company lowered its net interest expense by $ 12 million and $ 3 million during 2019 and 2018 , respectively . story_separator_special_tag contractual obligations and commercial commitments the following is a summary of the company 's known contractual obligations as of december 31 , 2019 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_10_th ( 1 ) does not include normal purchases made in the ordinary course of business and uncertain tax positions discussed below . ( 2 ) the interest rates applicable to the 2017 credit agreement are , at the company 's option , equal to either the alternate base rate ( which is a rate per annum equal to the greatest of ( a ) the prime rate in effect on such day , ( b ) the federal reserve bank of new york rate on such day plus 1/2 of 1 % per annum and ( c ) the adjusted libo rate on such day ( or if such day is not a business day , the immediately preceding business day ) for a deposit in u.s. dollars with a maturity of one month plus 1 % per annum ) or the applicable 1 , 2 , 3 or 6 month adjusted libo rate or euribo rate for euro-denominated loans , in each case , plus an interest rate margin based upon the company 's leverage ratio , which can range between 0 and 12.5 basis points for alternate base rate loans and between 80 and 112.5 basis points for libo rate or euribo rate loans . the facility fee on the 2017 credit agreement ranges between 7.5 and 25 basis points per annum , based on the leverage ratio , of the amount of the revolving facility commitments and the outstanding term loan . the 2017 credit agreement requires that the company comply with an interest coverage ratio test of not less than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters and a leverage ratio test of not more than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter . in addition , the 2017 credit agreement includes negative covenants , affirmative covenants , representations and warranties and events of default that are customary for investment grade credit facilities . as of december 31 , 2019 , the company was in compliance with all such covenants . 36 the following is a summary of the company 's known commercial commitments as of december 31 , 2019 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_11_th from time to time , the company and its subsidiaries are involved in various litigation matters arising in the ordinary course of business . the company believes it has meritorious arguments in its current litigation matters and believes any outcome , either individually or in the aggregate , will not be material to the company 's financial position or results of operations . the company has long-term liabilities for deferred employee compensation , including pension and supplemental executive retirement plans . the payments related to the supplemental retirement plan are not included above since they are dependent upon when the employee retires or leaves the company and whether the employee elects lump-sum or annuity payments . during fiscal year 2020 , the company expects to contribute approximately $ 3 million to $ 6 million to the company 's defined benefit plans . the company has contingent consideration for an earnout pertaining to its july 2014 acquisition of the net assets of medimass research , development and service kft . ( “ medimass ” ) . the earnout payments are not included above since they are dependent upon many factors that can not be predicted with any certainty . the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration as of december 31 , 2019 is $ 3 million . the company licenses certain technology and software from third parties . future minimum license fees payable under existing license agreements as of december 31 , 2019 are immaterial . the company enters into licensing arrangements with third parties that require future milestone or royalty payments contingent upon future events . upon the achievement of certain milestones in existing agreements , the company could make additional future payments of up to $ 7 million , as well as royalties on future net sales . it is not possible to predict with reasonable certainty whether these milestones will be achieved or the timing for achievement . as a result , these potential payments are not included in the table above . the company has not paid any dividends and has no plans , at this time , to pay any dividends in the future . off-balance sheet arrangements the company has not created , and is not party to , any special-purpose or off-balance sheet entities for the purpose of raising capital , incurring debt or operating parts of its business that are not consolidated ( to the extent of the company 's ownership interest therein ) into the consolidated financial statements . the company has not entered into any transactions with unconsolidated entities whereby it has subordinated retained interests , derivative instruments or other contingent arrangements that expose the company to material continuing risks , contingent liabilities or any other obligation under a variable interest in an unconsolidated entity that provides financing , liquidity , market risk or credit risk support to the company . the company enters into standard indemnification agreements in its ordinary course of business . pursuant to these agreements , the company indemnifies , holds harmless and agrees to reimburse the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party , generally the company 's business partners or customers , in connection with patent , copyright or other intellectual property infringement claims by any third party with respect to its current products , as well as claims relating to property damage or personal injury resulting from the performance of services by the company or its subcontractors . the maximum potential amount of future payments the company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited

cash flow from operating activities net cash provided by operating activities was $ 643 million , $ 604 million and $ 698 million in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the changes within net cash provided by operating activities include the following significant changes in the sources and uses of net cash provided by operating activities , aside from the changes in net income : the changes in accounts receivable were primarily attributable to timing of payments made by customers and timing of sales . days sales outstanding was 77 days at december 31 , 2019 , 74 days at december 31 , 2018 and 71 days at 2017 . 33 the changes in inventory were primarily attributable to new product launches and the increase in safety stock in advance of brexit . the changes in accounts payable and other current liabilities were the result of timing of payments to vendors . in addition , the change in 2019 as compared to 2018 includes $ 29 million and $ 103 million , respectively , of income tax payments made in the u.s. relating to the company 's estimated 2017 tax reform liability and 2018 estimated income tax payments and a $ 15 million litigation settlement payment . net cash provided from deferred revenue and customer advances results from annual increases in new service contracts as a higher installed base of customers renew annual service contracts . other changes were attributable to variation in the timing of various provisions , expenditures , prepaid income taxes and accruals in other current assets , other assets , other liabilities , and income tax expenses related to the 2017 tax act . in addition , in 2018 , the company made $ 11 million of contributions to certain defined benefit pension plans .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash flow from operating activities net cash provided by operating activities was $ 643 million , $ 604 million and $ 698 million in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the changes within net cash provided by operating activities include the following significant changes in the sources and uses of net cash provided by operating activities , aside from the changes in net income : the changes in accounts receivable were primarily attributable to timing of payments made by customers and timing of sales . days sales outstanding was 77 days at december 31 , 2019 , 74 days at december 31 , 2018 and 71 days at 2017 . 33 the changes in inventory were primarily attributable to new product launches and the increase in safety stock in advance of brexit . the changes in accounts payable and other current liabilities were the result of timing of payments to vendors . in addition , the change in 2019 as compared to 2018 includes $ 29 million and $ 103 million , respectively , of income tax payments made in the u.s. relating to the company 's estimated 2017 tax reform liability and 2018 estimated income tax payments and a $ 15 million litigation settlement payment . net cash provided from deferred revenue and customer advances results from annual increases in new service contracts as a higher installed base of customers renew annual service contracts . other changes were attributable to variation in the timing of various provisions , expenditures , prepaid income taxes and accruals in other current assets , other assets , other liabilities , and income tax expenses related to the 2017 tax act . in addition , in 2018 , the company made $ 11 million of contributions to certain defined benefit pension plans .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : combined sales to academic and governmental customers increased 2 % in 2019 and 8 % in 2018 , with the effect of foreign currency translation decreasing sales by 1 % in 2019 and increasing sales by 1 % in 2018. sales to academic and governmental customers are highly dependent on when institutions receive funding to purchase our instrument systems and , as such , sales growth rates can vary significantly from period to period . operating income was $ 708 million in 2019 , a decrease of 4 % as compared to 2018. this decrease can be attributed to lower sales volume , the effect of foreign currency translation and $ 10 million of severance-related costs in connection with a reduction in workforce that occurred in early 2019 , offset by lower variable incentive compensation costs . 27 operating income increased 12 % in 2018 as compared to 2017. this increase was primarily a result of the effect of higher sales volume achieved in 2018 , as well as the effect of approximately $ 33 million of facility closure , litigation and intellectual property payment charges from 2017 that did not recur in 2018. the company 's effective tax rates were 12.7 % , 13.0 % and 96.8 % for 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . net income per diluted share was $ 8.69 , $ 7.65 and $ 0.25 in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . in 2018 , the company settled a pension plan obligation and incurred a $ 46 million expense which reduced the net income per diluted share by $ 0.39. in 2017 , the company incurred a $ 550 million income tax provision related to the 2017 tax cuts and jobs act ( “ 2017 tax act ” ) which reduced the net income per diluted share by $ 6.82 , and excluding the 2017 tax act income tax provision , the company 's effective tax rate in 2017 would have been 11.0 % . the company generated $ 643 million , $ 604 million and $ 698 million of net cash flows from operations in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the increase in operating cash flow in 2019 was primarily a result of payments made in 2018 that did not recur , including $ 103 million of income tax payments made in the u.s. relating to the company 's estimated 2017 transition tax liability and 2018 estimated tax payments , a $ 15 million litigation settlement payment and $ 11 million of contributions to certain defined benefit pension plans . included in the 2019 net cash flow from operations is $ 29 million of income tax payments made in the u.s. in relation to the 2017 transition tax liability . over the next three years , the company is required to make annual u.s. federal tax payments of approximately $ 38 million to tax authorities in connection with the company 's estimated remaining transition tax liabilities of $ 404 million under the 2017 tax act . the final 60 % of the total liability is required to be paid over a three-year period beginning in 2023. cash flows used in investing activities included capital expenditures related to property , plant , equipment and software capitalization of $ 164 million , $ 96 million and $ 85 million in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . in 2019 , $ 68 million of capital expenditures paid related to the expansion of the company 's precision chemistry consumable operations in the u.s. the company has incurred $ 85 million of costs for this facility through the end of 2019. in 2018 , the company acquired the sole intellectual property rights to the desorption electrospray ionization ( “ desi ” ) imaging technology for $ 30 million in cash and a future contractual obligation to pay a minimum royalty of $ 3 million over the remaining life of the patent . desi is a mass spectrometry imaging technique that is used to develop medical therapies . in january 2019 , the company 's board of directors authorized the company to repurchase up to $ 4 billion of its outstanding common stock over a two-year period . during 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , the company repurchased 11.1 million , 6.8 million and 1.8 million shares of the company 's outstanding common stock at a cost of $ 2.5 billion , $ 1.3 billion and $ 323 million , respectively , under the january 2019 authorization and other previously announced programs . as of december 31 , 2019 , the company has a total of $ 1.7 billion authorized for future repurchases . the company believes that it has the financial flexibility to fund these share repurchases given current cash and investment levels and debt borrowing capacity , as well as to invest in research , technology and business acquisitions to further grow the company 's sales and profits . in september 2019 , the company issued fixed interest rate senior unsecured notes with an aggregate principal amount of $ 500 million , of which $ 200 million of the outstanding notes matures in seven years and the remaining $ 300 million matures in 10 years . the company used the proceeds from the issuance of these senior unsecured notes to repay other outstanding debt and for general corporate purposes . during 2019 and 2018 , the company entered into $ 260 million and $ 300 million , respectively , of u.s.-to-euro interest rate cross-currency swap agreements that hedge the company 's net investment in its euro denominated net assets , bringing the total currency interest rate cross-currency swap agreement notional value to $ 560 million at december 31 , 2019. as a result of entering into these agreements , the company lowered its net interest expense by $ 12 million and $ 3 million during 2019 and 2018 , respectively . story_separator_special_tag contractual obligations and commercial commitments the following is a summary of the company 's known contractual obligations as of december 31 , 2019 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_10_th ( 1 ) does not include normal purchases made in the ordinary course of business and uncertain tax positions discussed below . ( 2 ) the interest rates applicable to the 2017 credit agreement are , at the company 's option , equal to either the alternate base rate ( which is a rate per annum equal to the greatest of ( a ) the prime rate in effect on such day , ( b ) the federal reserve bank of new york rate on such day plus 1/2 of 1 % per annum and ( c ) the adjusted libo rate on such day ( or if such day is not a business day , the immediately preceding business day ) for a deposit in u.s. dollars with a maturity of one month plus 1 % per annum ) or the applicable 1 , 2 , 3 or 6 month adjusted libo rate or euribo rate for euro-denominated loans , in each case , plus an interest rate margin based upon the company 's leverage ratio , which can range between 0 and 12.5 basis points for alternate base rate loans and between 80 and 112.5 basis points for libo rate or euribo rate loans . the facility fee on the 2017 credit agreement ranges between 7.5 and 25 basis points per annum , based on the leverage ratio , of the amount of the revolving facility commitments and the outstanding term loan . the 2017 credit agreement requires that the company comply with an interest coverage ratio test of not less than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters and a leverage ratio test of not more than 3.50:1 as of the end of any fiscal quarter . in addition , the 2017 credit agreement includes negative covenants , affirmative covenants , representations and warranties and events of default that are customary for investment grade credit facilities . as of december 31 , 2019 , the company was in compliance with all such covenants . 36 the following is a summary of the company 's known commercial commitments as of december 31 , 2019 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_11_th from time to time , the company and its subsidiaries are involved in various litigation matters arising in the ordinary course of business . the company believes it has meritorious arguments in its current litigation matters and believes any outcome , either individually or in the aggregate , will not be material to the company 's financial position or results of operations . the company has long-term liabilities for deferred employee compensation , including pension and supplemental executive retirement plans . the payments related to the supplemental retirement plan are not included above since they are dependent upon when the employee retires or leaves the company and whether the employee elects lump-sum or annuity payments . during fiscal year 2020 , the company expects to contribute approximately $ 3 million to $ 6 million to the company 's defined benefit plans . the company has contingent consideration for an earnout pertaining to its july 2014 acquisition of the net assets of medimass research , development and service kft . ( “ medimass ” ) . the earnout payments are not included above since they are dependent upon many factors that can not be predicted with any certainty . the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration as of december 31 , 2019 is $ 3 million . the company licenses certain technology and software from third parties . future minimum license fees payable under existing license agreements as of december 31 , 2019 are immaterial . the company enters into licensing arrangements with third parties that require future milestone or royalty payments contingent upon future events . upon the achievement of certain milestones in existing agreements , the company could make additional future payments of up to $ 7 million , as well as royalties on future net sales . it is not possible to predict with reasonable certainty whether these milestones will be achieved or the timing for achievement . as a result , these potential payments are not included in the table above . the company has not paid any dividends and has no plans , at this time , to pay any dividends in the future . off-balance sheet arrangements the company has not created , and is not party to , any special-purpose or off-balance sheet entities for the purpose of raising capital , incurring debt or operating parts of its business that are not consolidated ( to the extent of the company 's ownership interest therein ) into the consolidated financial statements . the company has not entered into any transactions with unconsolidated entities whereby it has subordinated retained interests , derivative instruments or other contingent arrangements that expose the company to material continuing risks , contingent liabilities or any other obligation under a variable interest in an unconsolidated entity that provides financing , liquidity , market risk or credit risk support to the company . the company enters into standard indemnification agreements in its ordinary course of business . pursuant to these agreements , the company indemnifies , holds harmless and agrees to reimburse the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party , generally the company 's business partners or customers , in connection with patent , copyright or other intellectual property infringement claims by any third party with respect to its current products , as well as claims relating to property damage or personal injury resulting from the performance of services by the company or its subcontractors . the maximum potential amount of future payments the company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited

