“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”
— Warren Buffett
The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a five year holding period, or even longer, would fit right into the strategy. How would such a strategy have worked out for an investment into Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASD: ALXN)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2014.
| Start date: | 08/13/2014 |
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| End date: | 08/12/2019 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $164.01 | ||||
| End price/share: | $108.69 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 60.97 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 60.97 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | -33.73% | ||||
| Average annual return: | -7.90% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $6,626.71 | ||||
As shown above, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -7.90%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $6,626.71 today (as of 08/12/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -33.73% (something to think about: how might ALXN shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
One more investment quote to leave you with:
“Your investor’s edge is not something you get from Wall Street experts. It’s something you already have. You can outperform the experts if you use your edge by investing in companies or industries you already understand.” — Peter Lynch
