“When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”
— Warren Buffett
Investors can learn a lot from Warren Buffett, whose above quote teaches the importance of thinking about investment time horizon, and asking ourselves before buying any given stock: can we envision holding onto it for years — even a two-decade holding period possibly?
Suppose a “buy-and-hold” investor was considering an investment into Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. (NYSE: MTD) back in 2003: back then, such an investor may have been pondering this very same question. Had they answered “yes” to a full two-decade investment time horizon and then actually held for these past 20 years, here’s how that investment would have turned out.
| Start date: | 09/15/2003 |
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| End date: | 09/14/2023 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $38.50 | ||||
| End price/share: | $1,157.67 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 259.74 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 259.74 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $0.00 | ||||
| Total return: | 2,906.94% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 18.54% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $300,682.35 | ||||
As we can see, the two-decade investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 18.54%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $300,682.35 today (as of 09/14/2023). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 2,906.94% (something to think about: how might MTD shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
Another great investment quote to think about:
“There’s a virtuous cycle when people have to defend challenges to their ideas. Any gaps in thinking or analysis become clear pretty quickly when smart people ask good, logical questions.” — Joel Greenblatt
