pre_text: part ii item 5 . market for registrant 2019s common equity , related stockholder matters and issuer purchases of equity securities . the company 2019s common stock is listed on the new york stock exchange . prior to the separation of alcoa corporation from the company , the company 2019s common stock traded under the symbol 201caa . 201d in connection with the separation , on november 1 , 2016 , the company changed its stock symbol and its common stock began trading under the symbol 201carnc . 201d on october 5 , 2016 , the company 2019s common shareholders approved a 1-for-3 reverse stock split of the company 2019s outstanding and authorized shares of common stock ( the 201creverse stock split 201d ) . as a result of the reverse stock split , every 3 shares of issued and outstanding common stock were combined into one issued and outstanding share of common stock , without any change in the par value per share . the reverse stock split reduced the number of shares of common stock outstanding from approximately 1.3 billion shares to approximately 0.4 billion shares , and proportionately decreased the number of authorized shares of common stock from 1.8 billion to 0.6 billion shares . the company 2019s common stock began trading on a reverse stock split-adjusted basis on october 6 , 2016 . on november 1 , 2016 , the company completed the separation of its business into two independent , publicly traded companies : the company and alcoa corporation . the separation was effected by means of a pro rata distribution by the company of 80.1% ( 80.1 % ) of the outstanding shares of alcoa corporation common stock to the company 2019s shareholders . the company 2019s shareholders of record as of the close of business on october 20 , 2016 ( the 201crecord date 201d ) received one share of alcoa corporation common stock for every three shares of the company 2019s common stock held as of the record date . the company retained 19.9% ( 19.9 % ) of the outstanding common stock of alcoa corporation immediately following the separation . the following table sets forth , for the periods indicated , the high and low sales prices and quarterly dividend amounts per share of the company 2019s common stock as reported on the new york stock exchange , adjusted to take into account the reverse stock split effected on october 6 , 2016 . the prices listed below for the fourth quarter of 2016 do not reflect any adjustment for the impact of the separation of alcoa corporation from the company on november 1 , 2016 , and therefore are not comparable to pre-separation prices from earlier periods. .
post_text: the number of holders of record of common stock was approximately 12885 as of february 23 , 2017. .
table: 2016 2015
table: Quarter High Low Dividend High Low Dividend
table: First $30.66 $18.42 $0.09 $51.30 $37.95 $0.09
table: Second 34.50 26.34 0.09 42.87 33.45 0.09
table: Third 32.91 27.09 0.09 33.69 23.91 0.09
table: Fourth (Separation occurred on November 1, 2016) 32.10 16.75 0.09 33.54 23.43 0.09
table: Year $34.50 $16.75 $0.36 $51.30 $23.43 $0.36
question: Analyse this data from a financial earnings document. considering the year 2016 , what was the percentual increase in the high sale price observed during the first and second quarters?