Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 122,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,168 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Proto Labs worth $4,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRLB. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Proto Labs by 764.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 249.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in Proto Labs by 175.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter worth $192,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in shares of Proto Labs during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. 84.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Proto Labs from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Proto Labs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRLB opened at $40.16 on Friday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.76 and a 1 year high of $46.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $954.65 million, a P/E ratio of 66.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.44.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $126.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.71 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 2.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.