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

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports.

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

Proto Labs Trading Up 38.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PRLB traded up $10.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.00. 1,563,789 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 190,442. Proto Labs has a 12-month low of $23.73 and a 12-month high of $41.87. The company has a market cap of $955.70 million, a PE ratio of 39.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.45.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.15. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 3.60% and a net margin of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $125.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Proto Labs will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Proto Labs news, CEO Robert Bodor purchased 3,480 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.68 per share, with a total value of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,319,581.04. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRLB. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 0.6% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 92,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in Proto Labs by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 22,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Proto Labs by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 42,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Proto Labs in the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

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.