WellPoint Inc. said it plans to raise the quarterly dividend it pays shareholders by 30 percent, an announcement that comes about week after the health insurer's stock started slipping after it named a new CEO.

Health insurance stocks are wobbling after data released by the federal government pointed to possible steep Medicare Advantage payment cuts in 2014.

Shares of several health insurers started slipping Tuesday before markets opened on the first trading day after the federal government released preliminary data that points to a steeper-than-expected rate cuts for Medicare Advantage plans in 2014.

The acquisition of HealthSpring, another insurer, for $3.8 billion last year helped lift Cigna Corp.'s net income by 49 percent in the fourth quarter.

CVS Caremark's fourth-quarter earnings climbed 6 percent, as new customers and Medicare prescription drug plans helped its pharmacy benefits management business, and revenue from the chain's established drugstores grew.

Centene Corp.'s fourth quarter earnings plunged 70 percent, as flu expenses hit the Medicaid coverage provider and it continued to struggle with costs from two of its state programs.

WellPoint Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings jumped 38 percent compared to the final quarter of 2011, when the nation's second largest health insurer incurred a big hit from its Medicare Advantage business.

The leader of the nation's largest health insurer warned Thursday not to assume widespread participation from his company in part of health care overhaul's coverage expansion that unfolds later this year.