Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $51.96 and last traded at $50.80, with a volume of 159798 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PRLB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Proto Labs from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Craig Hallum raised shares of Proto Labs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Proto Labs from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

Proto Labs Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.58. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.67 and a beta of 1.27.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $135.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.05 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.22%. Proto Labs’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Proto Labs has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.350-0.430 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Proto Labs news, CEO Suresh Krishna bought 1,725 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.51 per share, with a total value of $75,054.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,021 shares in the company, valued at $784,093.71. The trade was a 10.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PRLB. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Proto Labs by 109.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 54,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 28,407 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at about $297,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Proto Labs by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 80,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at about $519,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Proto Labs by 12,144.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 32,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

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.