The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (NYSE:GAB) Short Interest Up 353.4% in December

The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. (NYSE:GAB) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 468,800 shares, a growth of 353.4% from the November 30th total of 103,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 595,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Trading of The Gabelli Equity Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GAB. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in The Gabelli Equity Trust by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,789,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,507,000 after purchasing an additional 216,440 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Gabelli Equity Trust by 466.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,301,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,633,000 after buying an additional 1,894,854 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Gabelli Equity Trust by 413.3% during the third quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC now owns 652,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,583,000 after buying an additional 525,502 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of The Gabelli Equity Trust by 7.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 484,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after acquiring an additional 34,868 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Gabelli Equity Trust by 6.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 212,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220 shares during the last quarter. 7.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Gabelli Equity Trust Stock Down 1.5 %

GAB traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $5.37. The company had a trading volume of 654,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,003. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.45. The Gabelli Equity Trust has a 1-year low of $4.96 and a 1-year high of $5.85.

The Gabelli Equity Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th.

The Gabelli Equity Trust Company Profile

The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched by GAMCO Investors, Inc The fund is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC. It invests in public equity markets of the United States. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It invests in preferred stock, convertible or exchangeable securities, and warrants and rights.