Cerner Announces Quarterly Dividend and Increases Share Repurchase Program

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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,

Media Contact: Misti Preston, (816) 299-2037,

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