Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $2.41 Million Stake in Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,991 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Facebook were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HCR Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Facebook during the fourth quarter valued at $3,091,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Facebook by 3,206.5% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 67,287 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,741,000 after buying an additional 65,252 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new stake in Facebook during the fourth quarter valued at $6,418,000. M Holdings Securities Inc. increased its stake in Facebook by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 14,088 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management increased its stake in Facebook by 2.8% in the first quarter. Howard Capital Management now owns 134,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,136,000 after buying an additional 3,726 shares during the last quarter. 57.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ FB) opened at 172.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.22 and a 200-day moving average of $144.53. Facebook, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.55 and a 52 week high of $175.49. The company has a market capitalization of $500.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58 and a beta of 0.67.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $9.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Facebook had a net margin of 38.84% and a return on equity of 21.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 44.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Facebook, Inc. will post $5.23 EPS for the current year.

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FB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity reissued a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Facebook in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Vetr downgraded shares of Facebook from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.06 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $180.00 target price on shares of Facebook and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. Wedbush set a $185.00 target price on shares of Facebook and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Instinet reissued a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Facebook in a research report on Saturday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Facebook has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.52.

In related news, Director Susan Desmond-Hellmann sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.67, for a total value of $30,236.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Colin Stretch sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $114,877.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,227,561.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,160,716 shares of company stock valued at $1,602,152,681. Insiders own 19.08% of the company’s stock.

About Facebook

Facebook, Inc is focused on building products that enable people to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers and other surfaces. The Company’s products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus. Facebook enables people to connect, share, discover and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers.