General Electric Co. plans to buy back about $10 billion of stock this year as it reaps cash from selling a 49 percent stake in NBC Universal to Comcast Corp.

The repurchase program accelerates GE’s effort to return cash to investors, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said Tuesday in a statement. GE didn’t specify how much it had previously planned on repurchasing this year.

Comcast Corp. agreed to buy the 49 percent of NBC Universal that it didn’t already own for $16.7 billion and to pay $1.4 billion for floors occupied by the company at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York as well as property in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

GE shares were up 3.4 percent to $23.35 in aftermarket trading in New York following the announcement, after closing at $22.58.

Comcast previously acquired a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal for $13.8 billion in a deal that closed in 2011.