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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

One of the most important things investors can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how they approach their time horizon for an investment into a stock under consideration. Because immediately after buying shares of a given stock, investors will then be able to check on the day-to-day (and even minute-by-minute) market value. Some days the stock market will be up, other days down. These daily fluctuations can often distract from the long-term view. Today, we look at the result of a five year holding period for an investor who was considering Ulta Beauty Inc (NASD: ULTA) back in 2015, bought the stock, ignored the market’s ups and downs, and simply held through to today.

Start date: 01/08/2015
$10,000

01/08/2015
$19,136

01/07/2020
End date: 01/07/2020
Start price/share: $132.24
End price/share: $253.09
Starting shares: 75.62
Ending shares: 75.62
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 91.39%
Average annual return: 13.86%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $19,136.21

As we can see, the five year investment result worked out quite well, with an annualized rate of return of 13.86%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $19,136.21 today (as of 01/07/2020). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 91.39% (something to think about: how might ULTA 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:
“Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” — John Maynard Keynes