Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Proto Labs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Proto Labs from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

Proto Labs Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of PRLB stock opened at $75.61 on Friday. Proto Labs has a 12-month low of $36.15 and a 12-month high of $76.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.33 and a beta of 1.36.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its 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. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 4.71%.The firm had revenue of $139.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Proto Labs has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Proto Labs will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.49, for a total value of $1,113,924.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,281.67. This trade represents a 46.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,663 shares of company stock valued at $1,650,167. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Proto Labs during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Proto Labs during the third quarter valued at approximately $456,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 8,736 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Proto Labs during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,425,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 10.4% during the third quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 169,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,484,000 after buying an additional 15,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Proto Labs Company Profile

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.