Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Invests $1.05 Million in Proto Labs, Inc. $PRLB

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Proto Labs at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Proto Labs by 51.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 63,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 7,380.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Proto Labs in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $472,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 0.6% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 249,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,986,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Proto Labs from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Proto Labs Price Performance

PRLB stock opened at $66.44 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.91. Proto Labs, Inc. has a one year low of $29.58 and a one year high of $68.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.24.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $136.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.07 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Proto Labs has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.360-0.440 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Proto Labs news, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 3,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.