Exercise $13-24$ Cash dividends, treasury stock, and statement of retained earnings $$C$3$P$2$P$3$

Alex Corporation reports the following components of stockholders' equity at December $31$ of the prior year.

Common stock$-$ $$25$ par value, $50,000$ shares authorized, $30,000$ shares issued and outstanding

Paid$-$in capital in excess of par value, common stock

Retained earnings

Total stockholders' equity

During the current year, 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\mathrm{.}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 $$21$ cash per share.

Sep. $9$ 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.

Prepare journal entries for each of the transactions.