Wall Street Zen Upgrades Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) to Strong-Buy

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

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

Proto Labs Stock Down 2.6%

PRLB opened at $72.85 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.73 and a beta of 1.39. Proto Labs has a 52 week low of $37.38 and a 52 week high of $78.52.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.54 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 the consensus estimate of $135.31 million. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 4.71%.Proto Labs’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Proto Labs has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Proto Labs will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 2,000 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $154,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,986.40. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,683 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,281.67. This represents a 46.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,663 shares of company stock worth $1,804,727 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRLB. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 10,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.