Israel Sanchez v. Centene Corp

Please note the Claim Form is no longer available.

This is a securities fraud class action on behalf of all purchasers of Centene Corporation common stock between May 24, 2016 and July 25, 2016, inclusive (the “Class Period”), alleging claims pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against Centene and two of its top officers, Michael Neidorff (its CEO and Board Chairman) and Jeffrey Schwaneke (its CFO).

Lead Plaintiff Settled The Action for $7.5 Million

The Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff Louisiana Sheriffs’ Pension & Relief Fund, on behalf of itself and the Settlement Class, has settled the Action for $7,500,000 in cash (the “Settlement”).

On October 26, 2020, the Court held a hearing on approval of the Settlement and related matters and announced that it would approve the Settlement. On October 28, 2020, the Court entered a Judgment approving the Settlement and orders approving the proposed Plan of Allocation and awarding attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, your rights will be affected and you may be eligible for a payment from the Settlement. The Settlement Class consists of:

all persons and entities who purchased the common stock of Centene during the period from May 24, 2016 through July 25, 2016, inclusive (the “Class Period”) and who were damaged thereby. Certain persons and entities are excluded from the Settlement Class by definition (see paragraph 20 of the Notice) or who requested exclusion pursuant to the instructions set forth in the Notice (see paragraphs 69-72 of the Notice).

Please read the Notice to fully understand your rights and options. A copy of the Notice can be found on the Case Documents page. You may also visit the Settlement website, CenteneSecuritiesLitigation.com, for more information about the Settlement.

Background

The case commenced on November 14, 2016. On May 1, 2017, the Court appointed Louisiana Sheriffs’ Pension & Relief Fund as Lead Plaintiff for the Class and BLB&G as Lead Counsel. On July 17, 2017, Lead Plaintiff filed the operative Complaint on behalf of purchasers of Centene common stock between April 26, 2016 and July 25, 2016.

The Complaint alleges that Centene and certain of its top officers made false and misleading statements to investors, and omitted material facts, regarding the financial condition and liabilities of Health Net, Inc., which Centene acquired shortly before the Class Period. When the truth emerged, the price of Centene’s common stock plunged precipitously, causing significant losses to investors.

On September 15, 2017, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint, which Plaintiffs opposed. On August 30, 2019, the Court denied in part and granted in part the Defendants’ motion to dismiss, reducing the Class Period to the two-month period from May 24, 2016 through July 25, 2016. 

On January 29, 2020, following a mediation before Michelle Yoshida of Phillips ADR, the Parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the Action in return for a cash payment of $7,500,000.

On March 5, 2020, the Parties entered into the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, which sets forth the full terms and conditions of the Settlement. On October 28, 2020, the Court entered orders approving the final settlement, plan of allocation for the net settlement funds, and attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses. The processing of claims and a data integrity audit were concluded in the first quarter of 2021. On April 19, 2021, Lead Plaintiff filed a motion with the Court for permission to conduct the initial distribution of the settlement funds to eligible class members. The Court approved the Distribution Motion on May 4, 2021, and in July 2021, the Claims Administrator conducted the Initial Distribution to Court-approved Claimants. A second distribution was completed in April 2022. Subsequent distributions will occur on a rolling basis.