FactSet Research Systems 5 Year Return How A 2021 10K Investment Has Performed

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— Warren Buffett

The Warren Buffett investment philosophy calls for a long-term investment horizon, where a five year holding period, or even longer, fits squarely within the strategy. For many investors, the period from early 2021 through early 2026 has been a real-world test of that discipline, spanning the post-pandemic recovery, a sharp rise in interest rates, and significant volatility across growth and technology-related equities.

How would such a long-term approach have worked out for an investment in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS), a leading provider of financial data, analytics, and workflow tools to investment professionals worldwide? Below, we examine the outcome of a five year, dividend-reinvested investment in the stock initiated in 2021.

FDS 5-Year Return Details
Start date:	03/29/2021	$10,000 03/29/2021   $6,367 03/26/2026
End date:	03/26/2026
Start price/share:	$323.95
End price/share:	$196.27
Starting shares:	30.87
Ending shares:	32.44
Dividends reinvested/share:	$19.32
Total return:	-36.33%
Average annual return:	-8.64%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$6,367.89

As shown above, over this particular five year window the investment outcome was disappointing, with an annualized rate of return of -8.64%. That performance would have turned a $10K investment made five years ago into $6,367.89 as of 03/26/2026, even after factoring in dividends and the benefit of reinvestment. On a total return basis, the result was -36.33% (something to consider when asking how FDS shares might perform over the next five years).

Notably, the negative result came despite FactSet’s reputation as a high-quality, cash-generative business with a recurring-revenue model. Over the period, the shares faced headwinds common to many higher-multiple information-services and software names: the rotation away from growth as interest rates rose, valuation compression from elevated 2021 levels, and investor concerns around competition and the pace of organic revenue growth. Those factors weighed on the share price even as the company continued to grow its subscription base and expand its analytics offerings.

Even so, dividends still played a meaningful role in the overall return profile. FactSet Research Systems Inc. paid investors a total of $19.32 per share in dividends over the five year holding period, providing a second component of return beyond the change in share price alone. Much like watering a tree, reinvesting dividends can help an investment grow over time — for the above calculations we assume dividend reinvestment (and for this exercise, the closing price on the ex-dividend date is used for the reinvestment of each dividend).

Based upon the most recent annualized dividend rate of $4.40 per share, we calculate that FDS has a current yield of approximately 2.24%. Another interesting datapoint to examine is “yield on cost” — in other words, expressing the current annualized dividend of $4.40 against the original $323.95 per share purchase price. This works out to a yield on cost of roughly 1.36%. Investors should be mindful that, over long horizons, yield on cost can grow significantly if dividend growth outpaces share price appreciation, but in this particular five year window the negative capital return more than offset the income stream.

From a fundamental perspective, FactSet has historically positioned itself as a key infrastructure provider to asset managers, investment banks, and other financial institutions, delivering real-time and historical market data, corporate fundamentals, and analytical tools. The company has also maintained a long record of returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. However, long-term investors in information-services businesses remain exposed to cycles in financial markets, budget pressures at clients, and ongoing competitive dynamics in the data and analytics space — all of which can influence valuation multiples irrespective of underlying earnings trends.

For investors applying a Buffett-style, multi-year lens, the FDS experience over 2021‑2026 underscores several recurring themes:

• Starting valuation matters: entering at a high earnings multiple can limit future return potential, even for quality franchises.
• Dividend reinvestment can soften the impact of price declines but may not fully offset a sustained de-rating in the share price.
• Business quality and stock performance can diverge for extended periods, particularly when macro conditions and interest rates shift.

Ultimately, the question for prospective or existing shareholders is not what the last five years delivered, but what the business and valuation imply for the next five. That analysis will rest on expectations for FactSet’s organic growth, margin profile, competitive positioning, the pace of product innovation (including in areas such as workflow automation and AI-driven analytics), and the broader backdrop for global capital markets and asset-management activity.

More investment wisdom to ponder:
“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” — Robert Arnott

Investors evaluating FDS today may wish to consider how its current valuation, dividend policy, and long-term growth prospects align with their own risk tolerance and time horizon, and whether a five year holding period is sufficient to realize the potential of the underlying business.