Analysts Set Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) Target Price at $41.25

Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.25.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PRLB shares. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Proto Labs from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Proto Labs in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock.

Proto Labs Price Performance

PRLB stock opened at $30.14 on Friday. Proto Labs has a 1 year low of $23.01 and a 1 year high of $41.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $763.14 million, a PE ratio of 39.14 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.24.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.07. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 2.88% and a net margin of 3.92%. The company had revenue of $127.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.81 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Proto Labs will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Proto Labs by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,980,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,541,000 after acquiring an additional 57,894 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Proto Labs by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 811,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,633,000 after buying an additional 34,434 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Proto Labs during the 4th quarter worth $11,382,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Proto Labs by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 234,765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,198,000 after acquiring an additional 40,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 170,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. 84.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Proto Labs Company Profile

Proto Labs, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital manufacturer of custom parts in the United States and Europe. The company offers injection molding; computer numerical control machining; three-dimensional printing; and sheet metal fabrication products. It serves developers and engineers, who use 3D computer-aided design software to design products across a range of end-markets.