Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on PRLB. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Proto Labs from $70.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Proto Labs from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.33.

Proto Labs Stock Performance

Shares of PRLB stock opened at $77.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 73.38 and a beta of 1.38. Proto Labs has a 52-week low of $38.48 and a 52-week high of $83.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.88 and its 200 day moving average is $65.01.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. Proto Labs had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The business had revenue of $139.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Proto Labs’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Proto Labs has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Proto Labs will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $154,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,986.40. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 18,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,281.67. The trade was 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 25,663 shares of company stock valued at $1,804,727. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Proto Labs

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRLB. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. 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 acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Proto Labs during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

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.