WellCare Group Shares Jump 15% From IPO
From Dow Jones/Associated Press
Shares of WellCare Group Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based managed care company, rose in their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of WellCare closed at $19.53, up 15% from their initial public offering price of $17 a share for 7.3 million shares.
The IPO, led by Morgan Stanley, was priced above the company’s estimate of $14 to $16 a share.
Most of WellCare is owned by Soros Fund Management, which was founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
WellCare focuses on government-sponsored health programs, such as the federal Medicare system and state-run Medicaid plans. It is a big business nationwide. In 2002, Medicaid covered 40.1 million people, while Medicare covered 40.5 million, according to federal data.
