Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) started the week strongly before slipping into reverse yesterday and today.
Monday saw CBA shares close up 1.2%, Tuesday they gained 1.5%, and Wednesday saw another 1.5% lift.
Thursday things headed the other direction, with CBA shares slipping 2.1% by the closing bell. And in late afternoon trading today, CommBank is down 1.9%, at $104.05 per share.
Image Source: Commonwealth Bank
What moved CBA shares this week?
CommBank headed higher in the first 3 days of the week, likely in anticipation of the company's full year results for the 2021 financial year.
Those results were delivered on Wednesday morning, saw CBA shares notch up a 3rd day of gains for the week.
Among the highlights of its FY21 results, CommBank reported a 19.7% increase in net profits after taxes. NPAT came in at $8.84 billion.
Cash earnings of $8.65 billion were up 19.8% year-on-year, beating analyst consensus estimates.
The $2 dividend the bank declared brings its full year dividend to $3.50, up 17% over the prior year. At the current share price that works out to a trailing dividend yield of 3.37%, fully franked.
But perhaps the biggest announcement for CBA shares was the $6 billion off-market share buy-back. According to the bank, that should see its total amount of outstanding shares cut by roughly 3.5%.
CommBank also made headline news this week when it was reported that its group governance executive general manager, Kara Nicholls, is suing the bank. Nicholls alleges CommBank is dismissing her after she raised concerns about an overworked and understaffed governance team.
Brokers' views on the outlook for CommBank from here remain mixed.
As the Motley Fool reported on Thursday, both Citi and Credit Suisse downgraded their outlook for CBA shares, while Bell Potter remained positive.
How has CommBank been performing?
CBA shares are up 43% over the past 12 months, compared to a gain of 25% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Year-to-date CBA shares have continued to outpace the benchmark, up 24% in 2021.
