Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

PRLB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Proto Labs from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.67.

Proto Labs Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE PRLB opened at $38.10 on Friday. Proto Labs has a twelve month low of $25.75 and a twelve month high of $46.73. The stock has a market cap of $923.35 million, a P/E ratio of 58.62 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.25.

Proto Labs declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 9.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Proto Labs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in Proto Labs by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,056,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,402,000 after purchasing an additional 110,244 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,300,864 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,851,000 after buying an additional 68,006 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Proto Labs by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 965,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,355,000 after acquiring an additional 13,554 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 738,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,871,000 after acquiring an additional 308,970 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Proto Labs by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 585,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,209,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.