Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 289,524 Shares of ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX) by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 416,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289,524 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in ChampionX were worth $13,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ChampionX by 12,607.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,120,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,643,000 after buying an additional 3,096,287 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of ChampionX during the 2nd quarter worth $72,860,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ChampionX by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,828,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142,628 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ChampionX during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,384,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ChampionX in the 2nd quarter worth $21,669,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ChampionX

In related news, insider Deric D. Bryant sold 49,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total transaction of $1,482,048.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 337,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,142,514.54. This trade represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Citigroup lowered their target price on ChampionX from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

ChampionX Price Performance

NASDAQ CHX opened at $25.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. ChampionX Co. has a 12 month low of $25.46 and a 12 month high of $39.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 2.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.99.

ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $906.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.50 million. ChampionX had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ChampionX Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

ChampionX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. ChampionX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.60%.

ChampionX Company Profile

ChampionX Corporation provides chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and engineered equipment and technologies to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production Chemical Technologies, Production & Automation Technologies, Drilling Technologies, and Reservoir Chemical Technologies.