Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Upgraded at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $54.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

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

Proto Labs Price Performance

PRLB stock opened at $43.27 on Friday. Proto Labs has a 12 month low of $25.75 and a 12 month high of $46.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 72.12 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.59.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $135.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.05 million. Proto Labs had a net margin of 2.91% and a return on equity of 2.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Proto Labs will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Proto Labs

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Proto Labs by 7,380.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 703 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Proto Labs by 249.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Proto Labs by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

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.