Northern Trust Corp Purchases 9,314 Shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,314 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.15% of Proto Labs worth $11,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Proto Labs by 764.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Proto Labs by 175.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $192,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new stake in Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PRLB. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Proto Labs from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Proto Labs from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.67.

Proto Labs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRLB opened at $41.10 on Friday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a one year low of $25.76 and a one year high of $46.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.02 and a 200-day moving average of $38.66. The stock has a market cap of $977.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.23 and a beta of 1.37.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. Proto Labs had a net margin of 3.31% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $126.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Proto Labs’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 9.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.