Heavy Insider Selling at Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) and Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), Plus Insider Buying at 3 Other Companies

Top Executive at Strong-Performing Casino Operator Discards Shares

A high-ranked executive at Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) offloaded two sizable blocks of shares over the past several trading sessions. President and Chief Operating Officer Robert G. Goldstein discarded 50,000 shares on Friday and 119,111 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $62.53 and $63.27 per share, all of which were held indirectly by the Robert and Sheryl Goldstein Trust. Following the recent sales, Mr. Goldstein currently holds an indirect ownership stake of 127,057 shares through the trust fund mentioned above.

According to Stifel analysts, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) might be the best-positioned casino-hotel operator in Macau. “Although LVS shares have ridden the wave of improved Macau market fundamentals over the past several months, we continue to see considerable upside in the name from here,” said Stifel analysts in a recent note. The shares of the casino operator have gained 41% so far this year, which possibly explains the insider selling discussed above. Stifel analysts also added that “our bullish outlook is supported by the company’s 3Q16 results, which in our view clearly portray LVS as the most dominant player in today’s Macau.” Iridian Asset Management, founded by David Cohen and Harold Levy, added a 3.86 million-share position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) to its portfolio during the three-month period ended September 30.

More Insider Selling at Well-Known Investment Management Firm

After a senior managing director at Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) offloaded 150,000 shares earlier this month, another senior managing director at the investment management firm discarded a sizable block of shares this week. Philip Alexander Taylor, the head of Americas since 2012 and Senior Managing Director, liquidated 140,000 shares on Monday at prices that ranged from $31.22 to $31.44 per share. After the recent sale, Mr. Taylor currently owns a total of 147,751 shares.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) has been enjoying strong capital inflows lately despite facing strong competition from low-cost exchange-traded funds and other passive vehicles. The asset manager reported net long-term inflows of $12.2 billion for the third quarter, reflecting net inflows of $8.3 billion into its actively managed funds and $3.9 billion into its passive products. According to Morningstar, more than $25 billion flowed into U.S. equity exchange-traded funds in the first full week following the election, a favorable outcome for players such as BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and Invesco. The shares of Invesco are 7% in the red this year. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management was the owner of 1.16 million shares of Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) at the end of September.

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