Cerner Announces Quarterly Dividend and Increases Share Repurchase Program
December 13 2019 - 9:00AM
Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq: CERN), a global health care technology
company, today announced that its Board of Directors declared a
cash dividend to stockholders of $0.18 per issued and outstanding
share. The cash dividend will be payable on Jan. 9, 2020, to
shareholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 27,
2019.
Cerner intends to pay regular quarterly cash
dividends, with future declarations subject to approval by its
Board of Directors and their determination that the declaration of
dividends remains in the best interests of Cerner and its
shareholders. The decision of whether to pay future dividends and
the amount of any such dividends will be based on the company's
financial position, results of operations, cash flows, capital
requirements, the requirements of applicable law and any other
factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant.
Cerner also announced that its Board has
approved an amendment to its stock repurchase program, authorizing
the repurchase of an additional $1.5 billion of its common stock.
Cerner has repurchased $1.3 billion of its shares in 2019 and had
$0.2 billion of available authorization remaining prior to the
increase announced today. The total authorized amount
available for repurchase is now $1.7 billion.
Cerner plans to repurchase shares in the open
market, by block purchase, in privately negotiated transactions or
possibly through other transactions managed by broker-dealers. No
time limit was set for completion of the program, and the timing
and amount of repurchases will depend on how much funding is used
for other purposes, such as acquisitions. The Company intends
to fund its capital allocation program, including share
repurchases, dividend payments and other uses, with cash from
operations and debt.
"The Board of Directors and our leadership team
believe Cerner's shares are an attractive investment, and our
expanded repurchase program and quarterly dividend reflect our
ongoing commitment to returning capital to shareholders and the
company's belief in Cerner’s long-term potential," said Marc
Naughton, executive vice president and chief financial
officer. "We have a strong balance sheet and expect to
continue generating strong cash flow that can support ongoing
investments in growth and a balanced capital allocation
strategy."
About Cerner
Cerner's health technologies connect people and
information systems at more than 27,500 contracted provider
facilities worldwide dedicated to creating smarter and better care
for individuals and communities. Recognized globally for
innovation, Cerner assists clinicians in making care decisions and
assists organizations in managing the health of their populations.
The company also offers an integrated clinical and financial system
to help manage day-to-day revenue functions, as well as a wide
range of services to support clinical, financial and operational
needs, focused on people. For more information, visit Cerner.com,
The Cerner Blog, The Cerner Podcast or connect on Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter. Nasdaq: CERN. Smarter
Care. Better Outcomes. Healthier You.
Certain trademarks, service marks and logos set
forth herein are property of Cerner Corporation and/or its
subsidiaries.
All statements in this press release that do not
directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of
Cerner's management with respect to future events and are subject
to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. It is important
to note that Cerner's performance, and actual results, financial
condition or business could differ materially from those expressed
in such forward- looking statements. The words "intends," "future",
or the negative of these words, variations thereof or similar
expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. For example, our forward-looking statements include
statements regarding future dividends and plans to repurchase
Cerner stock under the expanded authorization. Factors that could
cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to: possibility of significant costs and reputational harm
related to product related liabilities; potential claims for system
errors and warranties; the possibility of interruption at our data
centers or client support facilities, or those of third parties
with whom we have contracted (such as public cloud providers), that
could expose us to significant costs and reputational harm; the
possibility of increased expenses, exposure to legal claims and
regulatory actions and reputational harm associated with a
cyberattack or other breach in our IT security or the IT security
of third parties on which we rely; our proprietary technology may
be subject to claims for infringement or misappropriation of
intellectual property rights of others, or may be infringed or
misappropriated by others; material adverse resolution of legal
proceedings or other claims; risks associated with our global
operations, including without limitation greater difficulty in
collecting accounts receivable and stringent data privacy
regulations; risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency
exchange rates; changes in tax laws, regulations or guidance that
could adversely affect our tax position and/or challenges to our
tax positions in the U.S. and non-U.S. countries; risks related to
our dependence on strategic relationships and third-party
suppliers; risks associated with volatility and disruption
resulting from global economic or market conditions; significant
competition and our ability to quickly respond to market changes,
changing technologies and evolving pricing and deployment methods
and to bring competitive new solutions, devices, features and
services to market in a timely fashion; managing growth in the new
markets in which we offer solutions, health care devices or
services; long sales cycles for our solutions and services; risks
associated with our outstanding and future indebtedness, such as
compliance with restrictive covenants, which may limit our
flexibility to operate our business; changing political,
economic, regulatory and judicial influences, which could impact
the purchasing practices and operations of our clients and increase
costs to deliver compliant solutions and services; non-compliance
with laws, government regulation or certain industry initiatives or
failure to deliver solutions or services that enable our clients to
comply with laws or regulations applicable to their businesses;
variations in our quarterly operating results; potential variations
in our sales forecasts compared to actual sales; volatility in the
trading price of our common stock and the timing and volume of
market activity; inability to manage organizational change and
reduce expenses and costs to the extent currently anticipated;
risks that Cerner's revenue growth may be lower than anticipated
and/or that the mix of revenue shifts to low margin revenue; risks
that our stock repurchase program or quarterly dividend program
will not be fully implemented or enhance long-term shareholder
value; and risks that Cerner's business may be negatively affected
as a result of future proxy fights or the actions of activist
shareholders. Additional discussion of these and other risks,
uncertainties and factors affecting Cerner's business is contained
in Cerner's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, since the statements speak only as of the date that
they are made. Except as required by law, Cerner undertakes no
obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to
reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated
events, or changes in our business, results of operations or
financial condition over time.
Investor Contact: Allan Kells,
(816) 201-2445, akells@cerner.com
Media Contact: Misti Preston,
(816) 299-2037, misti.preston@cerner.com
Cerner's Internet Home Page:
www.cerner.com
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