Wall Street Zen Downgrades Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) to Buy

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

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

Proto Labs Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of PRLB opened at $77.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 73.38 and a beta of 1.38. Proto Labs has a 12-month low of $38.48 and a 12-month high of $83.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.09.

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

Insider Activity at Proto Labs

In other news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $154,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,986.40. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.49, for a total transaction of $1,113,924.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,281.67. This represents a 46.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,663 shares of company stock valued at $1,804,727. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Proto Labs by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 8,736 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Proto Labs by 301.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 87,339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 65,583 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 4,959.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 227,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,517,000 after purchasing an additional 223,155 shares during the period. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 1st quarter worth about $1,605,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Proto Labs during the first quarter valued at about $599,000. Institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Proto Labs Company Profile

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.