“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 Centene Corp (NYSE: CNC)? Today, we examine the outcome of a five year investment into the stock back in 2020.
| Start date: | 11/16/2020 |
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| End date: | 11/13/2025 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $67.67 | ||||
| End price/share: | $36.09 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 147.78 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 147.78 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | -46.67% | ||||
| Average annual return: | -11.83% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $5,332.17 | ||||
As shown above, the five year investment result worked out poorly, with an annualized rate of return of -11.83%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $5,332.17 today (as of 11/13/2025). On a total return basis, that’s a result of -46.67% (something to think about: how might CNC shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
More investment wisdom to ponder:
“The right time for a company to finance its growth is not when it needs capital, but rather when the market is most receptive to providing capital.” — Michael Milken
