Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $3.48 Million Stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,321 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Proto Labs worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRLB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Proto Labs during the second quarter worth $7,535,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 130,670 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Proto Labs by 32.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 435,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,463,000 after buying an additional 106,423 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Proto Labs by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,980,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,541,000 after buying an additional 57,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Proto Labs during the first quarter worth $1,560,000. 84.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Proto Labs Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:PRLB opened at $39.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.10. Proto Labs, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.75 and a twelve month high of $41.87. The stock has a market cap of $974.03 million, a P/E ratio of 42.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.15. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 4.76%. The business had revenue of $125.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PRLB. StockNews.com downgraded Proto Labs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on Proto Labs from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Bodor acquired 3,480 shares of Proto Labs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.68 per share, for a total transaction of $99,806.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 80,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,319,581.04. The trade was a 4.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% 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.