Proto Labs (NYSE:PRLB) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Key Points

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Shares of Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE:PRLB - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $39.23, but opened at $43.92. Proto Labs shares last traded at $41.44, with a volume of 57,353 shares.

The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. Proto Labs had a return on equity of 2.22% and a net margin of 2.91%. The firm had revenue of $135.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Proto Labs from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Proto Labs from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Craig Hallum upgraded Proto Labs from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRLB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,300,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,851,000 after acquiring an additional 68,006 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 738,576 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,871,000 after acquiring an additional 308,970 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 97.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 711,738 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,939,000 after acquiring an additional 351,097 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 571,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $22,354,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, S Squared Technology LLC grew its holdings in shares of Proto Labs by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. S Squared Technology LLC now owns 307,003 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,001,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.54% of the company's stock.

Proto Labs Trading Up 0.3%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 72.12 and a beta of 1.33.

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.