market folly

Roberto Mignone's hedge fund firm Bridger Management has filed a 13G with the SEC in regards to shares of Centene Corporation (CNC). The filing was made due to activity on March 18th, 2010 and they now disclose a 5.4% ownership stake in Centene with 2,784,800 shares. This is a brand new position for them as they previously did not own shares when we looked at Bridger's portfolio that reflected their positions as of December 31st, 2009. So, they've assembled their new holding over the course of the past three months.

Bridger is a $2.8 billion long/short equity hedge fund currently closed to new investors and are known for their sleuthing prowess on the short side of the portfolio. Prior to founding Bridger, Mignone co-founded Blue Ridge Capital with John Griffin in 1996, another hedge fund we track here on the site. For investment insight from Roberto Mignone, we've previously detailed some of his thoughts for 2010 from a hedge fund panel. Additionally, we've previously covered Bridger's new position in Casella Waste Systems (CWST) as well.

Taken from Google Finance, Centene is "a multi-line healthcare company. The Company operates in two business segments: Medicaid Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Medicaid Managed Care segment provides Medicaid and Medicaid-related health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs. The Specialty Services segment provides specialty services, including behavioral health, individual health insurance, life and health management, long-term care programs, managed vision, telehealth services, and pharmacy benefits management."

As you can see, this company falls right in Bridger's health niche. For more on Mignone's hedge fund, head to our coverage of Bridger Management's portfolio.