Proto Labs, Inc. $PRLB Shares Acquired by Auto Owners Insurance Co

Key Points

• Auto Owners Insurance Co dramatically increased its stake in Proto Labs during the fourth quarter, buying 223,155 additional shares and lifting its holdings by 4,959% to 227,655 shares valued at about $11.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on PRLB has been generally positive, with recent rating changes from Zacks Research, Wall Street Zen, and Weiss Ratings leaving the stock with a consensus Buy rating and a $53.33 average price target.
• Proto Labs reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.54 EPS versus the $0.40 estimate and revenue of $139.34 million, up 10.4% year over year, while guiding Q2 2026 EPS to $0.50-$0.58.

Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB - Free Report) by 4,959.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,655 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 223,155 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned 0.96% of Proto Labs worth $11,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Proto Labs by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,886 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its stake in Proto Labs by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 10,495 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Proto Labs by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,748 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Proto Labs in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 9.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,883 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Proto Labs from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Proto Labs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Proto Labs from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sven Wehrwein sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $154,560.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,986.40. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael R. Kenison sold 16,030 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.49, for a total transaction of $1,113,924.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,298,281.67. This trade represents a 46.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,663 shares of company stock valued at $1,804,727 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Proto Labs Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:PRLB opened at $80.94 on Friday. Proto Labs, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.91 and a 52 week high of $83.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.42. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.36 and a beta of 1.39.

Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.14. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 4.71%.The firm had revenue of $139.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Proto Labs's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Proto Labs has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.580 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Proto Labs, Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Proto Labs Profile

Proto Labs, Inc is a digital manufacturing company that offers on-demand production services for custom parts and prototypes. Utilizing technologies such as 3D printing (additive manufacturing), CNC machining and injection molding, the company transforms digital CAD designs into functional parts on accelerated timelines. Its platform-driven process combines automated quoting, rapid tool generation and manufacturing execution to serve product developers, engineers and small- to medium-sized production runs.

Founded in 1999 by Larry Lukis, Proto Labs has championed the application of digital workflows to traditional manufacturing methods.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PRLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.