AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 15,230 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.14% of Proto Labs worth $1,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Proto Labs by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,980,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,541,000 after buying an additional 57,894 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Proto Labs by 13.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,305,000 after purchasing an additional 130,670 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Proto Labs by 32.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 435,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,463,000 after purchasing an additional 106,423 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Proto Labs during the second quarter valued at $7,535,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 0.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 170,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Proto Labs

In related news, CEO Robert Bodor acquired 3,480 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.68 per share, with a total value of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,319,581.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PRLB. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Proto Labs in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Proto Labs Stock Up 1.9 %

Proto Labs stock opened at $28.45 on Friday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.01 and a 52-week high of $41.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $715.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.02.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.03. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 3.60% and a net margin of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $125.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Proto Labs Profile

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.