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“I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.”

— Warren Buffett

The investment philosophy practiced by Warren Buffett calls for investors to take a long-term horizon when making an investment, such as a five year holding period (or even longer), and reconsider making the investment in the first place if unable to envision holding the stock for at least five years. Today, we look at how such a long-term strategy would have done for investors in Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT) back in 2015, holding through to today.

Start date: 01/28/2015
$10,000

01/28/2015
$19,534

01/27/2020
End date: 01/27/2020
Start price/share: $118.95
End price/share: $232.37
Starting shares: 84.07
Ending shares: 84.07
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 95.35%
Average annual return: 14.33%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $19,534.44

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 14.33%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $19,534.44 today (as of 01/27/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 95.35% (something to think about: how might WAT shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

One more piece of investment wisdom to leave you with:
“People who succeed in the stock market also accept periodic losses, setbacks, and unexpected occurrences. Calamitous drops do not scare them out of the game.” — Peter Lynch