“Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.”
— Warren Buffett
A long-term investment in Cboe Global Markets Inc can be evaluated most clearly through total return: the combination of share-price appreciation and dividends reinvested over time. Using that framework, a $10,000 investment in Cboe Global Markets Inc (AMEX: CBOE) on 07/07/2016 would have grown to $41,575.67 by 07/06/2026, based on the figures shown below.
The result illustrates how compounding can materially change the outcome of a decade-long holding period. It also highlights an important distinction in return analysis: price performance alone does not capture the full economics of stock ownership, particularly for a company that pays regular dividends.
CBOE 10-Year Return Details
| Start date: | 07/07/2016 |
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| End date: | 07/06/2026 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $66.88 | ||||
| End price/share: | $245.08 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 149.52 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 169.61 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $16.52 | ||||
| Total return: | 315.69% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 15.31% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $41,575.67 | ||||
Over the full period, the investment produced a 315.69% total return, equivalent to an average annual return of 15.31%. In practical terms, every $1 invested grew to roughly $4.16 when dividends were reinvested. [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
What Drove the Return
The largest contributor to the gain was share-price appreciation. CBOE rose from $66.88 to $245.08 over the period, reflecting substantial expansion in the market value of the business. Dividends added a second layer of return, both through the cash paid and through the additional shares purchased when those dividends were reinvested.
The reinvestment effect is visible in the share count. An initial 149.52 shares increased to 169.61 shares by the end of the period. That increase did not come from additional capital contributions; it came from reinvesting distributions. As a result, the investor participated in future price gains with a larger share base than the one originally purchased.
Why Dividend Reinvestment Matters
Dividend reinvestment can appear incremental in any single year, but over a decade it can have a meaningful impact on ending wealth. In this case, investors received $16.52 per share in cumulative dividends during the period examined. Reinvesting those payments increased the number of shares owned and allowed compounding to work on both principal and distributions.
That distinction matters when comparing total return with price return. A stock can post strong price gains while a reinvested dividend strategy quietly adds extra percentage points over time. Conversely, for lower-growth stocks, dividends can account for a much larger share of overall return. CBOE’s result reflects both forces, with capital appreciation doing most of the work and dividends enhancing the outcome.
Current Yield and Yield on Cost
Based on the most recent annualized dividend rate of $2.88 per share, CBOE has a current yield of approximately 1.18%. Measured against the original purchase price of $66.88 per share, that same annualized dividend represents a yield on cost of about 1.76%.
These two figures answer different questions:
- Current yield shows the annual dividend relative to the current share price.
- Yield on cost shows the annual dividend relative to the original purchase price.
Yield on cost can be a useful way to understand how income from a successful long-term holding has grown relative to the investor’s entry price. It is less useful for comparing fresh opportunities, where current yield and valuation remain more relevant.
A Quick Takeaway From the 10-Year CBOE Return
For Cboe Global Markets, the 2016-to-2026 holding period shows the power of owning a business through time rather than focusing only on shorter-term price movement. The investment outcome was driven by three reinforcing elements:
- substantial appreciation in the share price,
- cash dividends paid over the holding period, and
- additional compounding from dividend reinvestment.
Together, those factors turned a $10,000 initial investment into $41,575.67 over 10 years.
“Never test the depth of a river with both feet.” — Warren Buffett
