If You Bought 1 Share of American Express at Its IPO, Here's How Many Shares You Would Own Now

American Express (NYSE: AXP) was founded in 1850 and was initially a shipping company transporting items across the United States with horse-drawn wagons. Given its long history, Amex is a relatively new company to the public markets, completing its initial public offering (IPO) in May 1977. Since that time, the business has evolved dramatically, and so has its stock -- both in terms of splits and performance.

American Express stock split history

Since its IPO, American Express has split its stock four times. The first one (in 1983) was a 4-for-3 split, and fractional shares weren't really a thing back then, but for the sake of this article, we'll assume it was possible. So, here's the stock split history and what it would mean if you had bought one share at the IPO:

Data source: American Express.

So, the short answer is that you'd own 12 shares today. But there's more. American Express spun off Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) in 2005, and shareholders received one share for every five American Express shares they owned. So, you'd also own two shares of Ameriprise and would have received some cash instead of fractional shares at the time of the spin-off.

Financially, you would have done quite well. American Express traded for approximately $30 on its IPO day. Twelve shares would now be worth about $3,220, and you would receive $33.60 in annual dividend income. Plus, your two Ameriprise shares would be worth about $960 by themselves and pay just under $12 in annual dividends.

In short, if you had spent $30 on a share of American Express in 1977, it would be worth nearly $4,200. Every year, it would also pay you dividend income that surpasses your initial investment.

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American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Matt Frankel has positions in American Express. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.