Pat Yourself On The Back If You Bought EW in 2017

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— Warren Buffett

A key lesson we can learn from Warren Buffett, is about how to think about a potential stock investment in the context of a long-term time horizon. Every investor in a stock has a choice: bite our fingernails over the short-term ups and downs that are inevitable with the stock market, or, zero in on stocks we are comfortable to simply buy and hold for the long haul — maybe even a five year holding period. Heck, investors can even choose to completely ignore the stock market’s short-run quotations and instead go into their initial investment planning to hold on for years and years regardless of the fluctuations in price that might occur next.

Today, we examine what would have happened over a five year holding period, had you decided back in 2017 to buy shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE: EW) and simply hold through to today.

EW 5-Year Return Details
Start date:	07/17/2017	$10,000 07/17/2017 $25,045 07/14/2022
End date:	07/14/2022
Start price/share:	$38.70
End price/share:	$96.91
Starting shares:	258.40
Ending shares:	258.40
Dividends reinvested/share:	$0.00
Total return:	150.41%
Average annual return:	20.18%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$25,045.15

The above analysis shows the five year investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 20.18%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 5 years ago into $25,045.15 today (as of 07/14/2022). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 150.41% (something to think about: how might EW shares perform over the next 5 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“If you’re prepared to invest in a company, then you ought to be able to explain why in simple language that a fifth grader could understand, and quickly enough so the fifth grader won’t get bored.” — Peter Lynch