Published: 8/3/2012

Facebook stock dips below $20 a share

BLADE STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

NEW YORK — Shares of Facebook Inc. dipped below $20 for the first time on Thursday, pummeled by ongoing doubts about its growth prospects and a string of recent executive departures.

The stock hit a low of $19.82 in heavy trading on Thursday afternoon. For the day, it lost 84 cents, or 4 percent, to close at $20.04 a share. It has now lost almost half its value since debuting at $38 in May in the largest IPO ever to emerge from Silicon Valley.

The decline could continue when a torrent of new shares hits the market later this month.

Facebook will free up nearly 1.7 billion shares — four times the number now trading — when provisions that had barred employees from selling their holdings begin to expire.

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