DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) today announced a quarterly dividend and an expanded authorization for its share repurchase program.
The Board of Directors of Baxter has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.13 per common share, payable on January 3, 2017 to shareholders of record as of December 2, 2016. The indicated annual dividend rate is $0.52 per share.
Baxter’s Board of Directors also has approved a $1.5 billion increase in authorization for the company’s existing share repurchase plan. The share repurchase plan, which was originally approved in July 2012, now has approximately $1.9 billion of repurchase authority under the amended plan. Shares will be repurchased in the open market at times and amounts determined by the company based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors.
''These actions reflect our commitment to returning meaningful value to shareholders while also balancing reinvestment in the business to drive long-term, sustainable growth,'' said Jay Saccaro, Baxter’s chief financial officer.
Baxter provides a broad portfolio of essential renal and hospital products, including home, acute and in-center dialysis; sterile IV solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition; biosurgery products and anesthetics; and pharmacy automation, software and services. The company’s global footprint and the critical nature of its products and services play a key role in expanding access to healthcare in emerging and developed countries. Baxter’s employees worldwide are building upon the company’s rich heritage of medical breakthroughs to advance the next generation of healthcare innovations that enable patient care.
This release includes forward-looking statements concerning Baxter's dividend and share repurchase authorization. The statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: continued strength in the company’s financial position, including cash flows; future decisions of the board of directors of the company to continue payments to shareholders in the form of the repurchase of shares and the payment of a dividend on a quarterly or other basis relative to alternative uses of funds; and other risks identified in the company's most recent filing on Form 10-K and other SEC filings, all of which are available on Baxter’s website. Baxter does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
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