Centene (CNC) RSU sell-vs-hold

Calculator · free · no signup · CNC

Sell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Centene RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.

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Your vest

pre-IPO? enter price manually

Tax inputs

Hold strategy

1 yr
20%
20%
10.0%

Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr

$47,709

Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.

Estimates only. Not financial advice.

This vest pushes your top federal rate from 24% to 35%. Hover the Federal value below for the bracket-by-bracket slicing.

Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.

The hidden purchase

Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of CNC today.

Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in CNC. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.

Sell + invest

Best payout
Vest value (shares × price)$80,000
Federal
State
Medicare−$1,160
Additional Medicare−$720
Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0%$4,451
Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT)−$1,251
Net at year 1 yr$47,709

Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.

Hold 1 yr

Vest value (shares × price)$80,000
Vest tax (federal + state + FICA)
Net at year 1 yr$42,728

Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.

Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.

Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.

Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.

You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.

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Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator

About Centene

Centene (CNC) is a public Other company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in St Louis, MO.

Equity grants at Centene typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).

Centene Corporation is an American for-profit healthcare company that serves as an intermediary for government-sponsored and privately insured healthcare programs. Based in Clayton, Missouri, Centene ranked No. 23 on the 2025 Fortune 500.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The company began in 1984 when Elizabeth Brinn bought a Wisconsin Medicaid plan, and it grew into the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the United States. Growth came through acquiring state plans and competitors, including Health Net in 2016 and WellCare in 2020, plus marketplace exchange plans under the Affordable Care Act. Revenue depends on state contract renewals and rate adequacy, and the post-pandemic Medicaid eligibility redeterminations reduced enrollment substantially. Headquarters are in St. Louis.

Sources: centene.com · en.wikipedia.org

Equity comp at Centene

  • RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.

Researched 2026-08-17.

OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Centene.

Centene (CNC) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.

All Centene tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →

Centene equity questions

Should I sell or hold my Centene RSUs at vest?
Centene restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
Does Centene grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
Equity compensation at Centene typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
Do Centene RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
No. Centene restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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