NEW YORK — Facebook’s stock is up more than 7 percent despite expectations that it would fall because more than 850 million additional shares in the company are being freed up for sale.

Shares of Facebook Inc. are up $1.47, or 7.4 percent, at $21.33. Facebook went public in May at $38 in a much-hyped IPO that turned out to be a letdown for investors. Its stock price hasn’t hit $38 since.

Wednesday marks the expiration of Facebook’s biggest lock-up period, which is a time following an IPO that prevents insiders from selling stock. In all, 773 million shares became eligible for sale, along with 31 million restricted stock units. And about 48 million shares held by former Facebook employees also became eligible for sale, bringing the total to 852 million.

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