Auto Owners Insurance Co Increases Stock Holdings in Proto Labs, Inc. $PRLB

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 4,959.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 223,155 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Proto Labs were worth $11,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Proto Labs by 7,380.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Proto Labs in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Proto Labs

In other news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $154,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,511,986.40. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.49, for a total value of $1,113,924.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 18,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,281.67. This trade represents a 46.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,663 shares of company stock worth $1,804,727. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Proto Labs from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research raised Proto Labs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Proto Labs Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE PRLB opened at $80.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.36 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.55 and a 200-day moving average of $61.42. Proto Labs, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.91 and a fifty-two week high of $83.15.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $139.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.31 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Proto Labs has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current 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.