Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PRLB. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Proto Labs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Proto Labs from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday. Benchmark boosted their price target on Proto Labs from $70.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Proto Labs Stock Up 1.2%

PRLB opened at $88.92 on Thursday. Proto Labs has a 52 week low of $45.10 and a 52 week high of $91.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $149.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.53 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 4.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Proto Labs has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.560-0.640 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Proto Labs will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Proto Labs

In other news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 $2,511,986.40. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 18,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,281.67. This trade 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 25,463 shares of company stock valued at $1,790,727 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Proto Labs

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRLB. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 2.4% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Proto Labs by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Proto Labs by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new position in Proto Labs during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Proto Labs by 9.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. 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.