Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.3333.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Proto Labs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Proto Labs from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insider Activity at Proto Labs

In other news, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 3,048 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $152,918.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,449,812.66. The trade was a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRLB. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its stake in Proto Labs by 791.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,034,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,408,000 after buying an additional 918,219 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Proto Labs by 97.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 711,738 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,939,000 after acquiring an additional 351,097 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Proto Labs by 417.0% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,973,000 after purchasing an additional 225,269 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Proto Labs in the third quarter worth about $6,425,000. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Proto Labs during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,683,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Proto Labs Stock Performance

Shares of PRLB stock opened at $52.62 on Tuesday. Proto Labs has a one year low of $29.58 and a one year high of $55.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.17 and its 200 day moving average is $47.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.26 and a beta of 1.18.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.08. Proto Labs had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 2.23%. The business had revenue of $135.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Proto Labs has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.300-0.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Proto Labs will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Proto Labs

Proto Labs, Inc is a digital manufacturing company that offers on-demand production services for custom parts and prototypes. Utilizing technologies such as 3D printing (additive manufacturing), CNC machining and injection molding, the company transforms digital CAD designs into functional parts on accelerated timelines. Its platform-driven process combines automated quoting, rapid tool generation and manufacturing execution to serve product developers, engineers and small- to medium-sized production runs.

Founded in 1999 by Larry Lukis, Proto Labs has championed the application of digital workflows to traditional manufacturing methods.