Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 130,670 Shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 13.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,110,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,670 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.39% of Proto Labs worth $34,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $106,541,000 after purchasing an additional 57,894 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs during the fourth quarter worth $11,382,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,535,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Proto Labs by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 168,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,191,000 after acquiring an additional 6,469 shares during the last quarter. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Proto Labs

In other Proto Labs news, CEO Robert Bodor bought 3,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.68 per share, for a total transaction of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 80,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,319,581.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PRLB. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Proto Labs currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Proto Labs Stock Performance

NYSE:PRLB opened at $28.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $710.37 million, a PE ratio of 36.44 and a beta of 1.32. Proto Labs, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.01 and a fifty-two week high of $41.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.36.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $125.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.25 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 3.60%. Proto Labs’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

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.