Alexander corporation reports the following components of stockholders’ equity on december 31, 2016:

common stock—$25 par value, 50,000 shares authorized, 30,000 shares issued and outstanding $ 750,000
paid-in capital in excess of par value, common stock 50,000
retained earnings 340,000
total stockholders’ equity $ 1,140,000

in year 2017, the following transactions affected its stockholders’ equity accounts.

jan. 2 purchased 3,000 shares of its own stock at $25 cash per share.
jan. 7 directors declared a $1.50 per share cash dividend payable on february 28 to the february 9 stockholders of record.
feb. 28 paid the dividend declared on january 7.
july 9 sold 1,200 of its treasury shares at $30 cash per share.
aug. 27 sold 1,500 of its treasury shares at $20 cash per share.
sept. 9 directors declared a $2 per share cash dividend payable on october 22 to the september 23 stockholders of record.
oct. 22 paid the dividend declared on september 9.
dec. 31 closed the $52,000 credit balance (from net income) in the income summary account to retained earnings.

required: 1. prepare journal entries to record each of these transactions for 2017.
2. prepare a statement of retained earnings for the year ended december 31, 2017.
3. prepare the stockholders’ equity section of the company’s balance sheet as of december 31, 2017.