Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) executives were aggressively selling shares when the stock was soaring above $72. But some of them are still offloading a big chunk of their holdings of Facebook shares even though the stock has fallen below $60. Last month, chief technology officer Michael Schroepfer sold 9,787 shares at an average price of $68.14 per share. About the same time, chief financial officer David Ebersman disclosed that he had sold 58,714 shares in the open market transaction at $68.12 apiece.
David Fischer still holds 414,796 Facebook shares
The latest Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) executive to unload shares in the open market is David Fischer, VP of business and marketing partnerships. Fischer disclosed in a Form 4 filing with the SEC on Friday that he sold 36,000 shares of the company on April 10. He sold 18,000 class-A shares at $59.59, and another 18,000 shares at $63.09 each. Fischer gained a total of $2,208,240 from the transactions.
Now David Fischer directly holds 414,796 Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares valued at about $25,443,587. Fischer had also sold 36,000 shares last month, but a relatively higher price of $70 apiece. In stark contrast to Facebook executives, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) insiders have decided to hold onto their shares as lockup of 489 million shares expires on May 5. Twitter shares have fallen more than 41% from their December 26 high of $73.31.
Deutsche Bank says Facebook a “must own” stock
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research note yesterday that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is a “must own” stock in 2014. The research firm raised its price target to $76 with a Buy rating. For the past three quarters, the social networking giant has reported ad revenues about $200 million above the Wall Street consensus. Deutsche Bank expects the company’s Q1 ad revenue to beat the consensus by $50-$100 million.
Cantor Fitzgerald also upgraded Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) from Hold to Buy in a research note last Thursday. The research firm has also raised its price target from $66 to $72.
Facebook Inc shares plunged 2.25% to $57.57 at 11:17 AM EDT on Tuesday. Despite the recent decline, the stock is still up 116% over the past 12 months.
