Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB)

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Proto Labs in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Proto Labs presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Proto Labs Trading Up 38.7 %

PRLB traded up $10.60 on Friday, hitting $38.00. 1,555,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 190,415. Proto Labs has a 52 week low of $23.73 and a 52 week high of $41.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $955.70 million, a PE ratio of 39.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.41.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.15. Proto Labs had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $125.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Proto Labs will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Proto Labs

In other Proto Labs news, CEO Robert Bodor bought 3,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.68 per share, for a total transaction of $99,806.40. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,319,581.04. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Proto Labs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,980,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,541,000 after acquiring an additional 57,894 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in shares of Proto Labs by 1.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,946,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,123,000 after buying an additional 36,510 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 13.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,305,000 after acquiring an additional 130,670 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Proto Labs by 32.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 435,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,463,000 after acquiring an additional 106,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Proto Labs by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 299,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,807,000 after acquiring an additional 55,932 shares during the period. 84.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Proto Labs Company Profile

Proto Labs, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital manufacturer of custom parts in the United States and Europe. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional printing; and sheet metal fabrication products. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end-markets.