Deutsche Bank AG Grows Stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB)

Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,298 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,109 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.43% of Proto Labs worth $4,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Proto Labs by 764.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $192,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Proto Labs in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Proto Labs Stock Performance

PRLB opened at $41.01 on Tuesday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a one year low of $25.76 and a one year high of $46.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $974.85 million, a PE ratio of 63.09 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average price is $36.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.84.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB - Get Free Report) last released 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. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 2.44% and a net margin of 3.31%. The company had revenue of $126.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $123.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Proto Labs declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 9.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Proto Labs in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Proto Labs from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Proto Labs from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.67.

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.

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