Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Craig Hallum Analyst Says

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Craig Hallum from $30.00 to $36.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Craig Hallum’s price target points to a potential upside of 5.32% from the company’s previous close.

PRLB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.33.

Proto Labs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRLB traded down $3.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $34.18. The company had a trading volume of 323,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 191,080. Proto Labs has a 52 week low of $25.75 and a 52 week high of $41.87. The stock has a market cap of $859.63 million, a PE ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.44.

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

Insider Activity at Proto Labs

In related news, CEO Robert Bodor purchased 3,480 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.68 per share, for a total transaction of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,319,581.04. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 22.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 299,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,807,000 after buying an additional 55,932 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted 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 worth $60,123,000 after buying an additional 36,510 shares during the period. Meros Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 1.6% during the second quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 139,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,319,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs during the second quarter worth about $591,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 75.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 15,230 shares during the period. 84.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.