Wells Fargo & Company MN Increases Holdings in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,869 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.06% of Proto Labs worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Proto Labs in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Proto Labs during the 4th quarter valued at $192,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new stake in Proto Labs during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in Proto Labs during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the fourth quarter worth $235,000. 84.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PRLB. StockNews.com downgraded Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Proto Labs from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.67.

Proto Labs Price Performance

PRLB opened at $38.39 on Friday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.76 and a 12 month high of $46.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $912.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.06 and a beta of 1.52.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $126.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.71 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 3.31% and a return on equity of 2.44%. Proto Labs’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Proto Labs declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 9.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.