Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Receives Overweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.13% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PRLB. StockNews.com cut Proto Labs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Proto Labs in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Proto Labs currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.33.

Proto Labs Trading Down 10.9 %

Shares of PRLB traded down $4.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 782,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,234. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $851.51 million, a P/E ratio of 35.78 and a beta of 1.32. Proto Labs has a 1-year low of $25.75 and a 1-year high of $41.87.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $125.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $121.38 million. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 3.60% and a net margin of 4.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Proto Labs will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Proto Labs

In other Proto Labs news, CEO Robert Bodor acquired 3,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.68 per share, with a total value of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,319,581.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Proto Labs by 22.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 299,848 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,807,000 after acquiring an additional 55,932 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in Proto Labs by 1.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,946,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,123,000 after acquiring an additional 36,510 shares during the period. Meros Investment Management LP grew its position in Proto Labs by 1.6% during the second quarter. Meros Investment Management LP now owns 139,816 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in Proto Labs during the second quarter valued at about $591,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Proto Labs by 75.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,489 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 15,230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company's stock.

About Proto Labs

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.