Are whales dipping in and out of this ASX 200 travel share?

There are some massive trades happening with Flight Centre shares this month…

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published February 14, 2023 1:00 pm AEDT

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is once again having a rosy day so far this Tuesday. After yesterday's pleasing and market-bucking performance, this ASX 200 travel share is once again in the green today.

At the time of writing, Flight Centre shares are up by 0.33% to $18.31 each. Perhaps investors have been buoyed by some heavy buying into the company this week.

Yesterday, we covered the emerging news that a monster trade had taken place with Flight Centre shares.

There were early indications that a massive block of 1.2 million shares had changed hands, which was worth around $22.1 million. In fact, 1.2 million shares are worth 0.7% of all the Flight Centre shares on the market, so this was a big move to see for the company.

The transaction took place at a share price of $18.45 each but for now, this is all we know.

Today, some more information has come to light about Flight Centre shares.

The company has just released some details about another dramatic transaction of Flight Centre shares. But this time, it's a sell.

According to the release, investment bank and broker JP Morgan has sold more than two million Flight Centre shares.

This sale was reported as taking place on 9 February (last Thursday) and resulted in JP Morgan reducing its holdings from approximately 13.14 million shares down to 10.98 million shares.

That takes the broker's voting power in the company down from 6.56% to 5.17%.

So there have certainly been some whales making some big moves when it comes to Flight Centre shares of late.

A man in his 30s holds his laptop and operates it with his other hand as he has a look of pleasant surprise on his face as though he is learning something new or finding hidden value in something on the screen. — Image source: Getty Images

Flight Centre share price snapshot

The Flight Centre share price has had an incredibly strong start to the year. In 2023 so far, this ASX 200 travel share is now up a healthy 27.3%. Saying that though, the company still remains down by 9.6% over the past 12 months.

Factoring in the new shares issued during 2020, Flight Centre shares are also still down more than 70% from their pre-COVID highs of more than $61 each.

At the current Flight Centre share price, this ASX 200 travel share has a market capitalisation of $3.89 billion.

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