BlackRock Invests Heavily in American Express

BlackRock Inc., a leading institutional investor, has made a new investment in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). According to its recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission, BlackRock bought 42,006,392 shares of AXP's stock, valued at approximately $14,208,662,000.

This new stake represents about 6.22% of American Express' outstanding shares. The investment is part of a larger trend in which institutional investors have been increasing their holdings in the payment services company.

In the past quarter, several other hedge funds and institutions have also modified their holdings in AXP. Evolution Wealth Management Inc., for example, boosted its holdings by 6,600%, while Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position worth $26,000.