Lawsuit Filed Against WellPoint After Earnings Expectations Revised
On Tuesday, an Indiana law firm filed a lawsuit alleging that WellPoint issued misleading guidance on its anticipated financial performance for 2008 and provided inadequate information about medical costs and membership trends, the East Bay Business Times reports.
The suit seeks class action status on behalf of everyone who purchased WellPoint stock between January 23 -- when the company issued its earnings guidance for 2008 and announced earnings for 2007 -- and March 10, when WellPoint revised its earnings expectations for 2008.
The day after WellPoint restated its earnings expectations, the share price dropped from $65.92 to $47.26, and trading of the shares far exceeded average volume.
WellPoint is the parent company of Blue Cross of California (Hogarth, East Bay Business Times, 3/19).