The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price lagged the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in the month just past.
Shares the in ASX 200 bank stock closed July trading for $105.71 apiece.
On 31 August, the CBA share price finished the day at $102.18, down 3.3%.
That compares to a 1.4% loss posted by the ASX 200. And a 1.7% monthly loss on the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ).
Here's what investors were considering in August.
What happened with the CBA share price in August?
CommBank stock kicked off the month facing headwinds from some rather bearish broker outlooks.
The CBA share price had been on a strong run, with shares climbing from $95.80 on 9 June to $106.43 by 27 July, a gain of 11.1%.
A number of brokers felt this could represent a good opportunity to take some profits off the table, including Citi. On 3 August, the broker had a sell rating on the big four bank with a 12-month price target of $82.50 per share.
It wasn't all bad news for CommBank over the month though. The CBA share price closed up 2.6% on 9 August, the day the bank reported its FY 2023 results.
Highlights included a 13% year-on-year boost in operating income to $27.2 billion. The bank's cash net profit after tax (NPAT) increased 6% from FY22 to $10.2 billion.
And contrary to many analyst expectations, CBA's net interest margin (NIM) increased by 0.17% in FY23 to 2.07%. Though investors will have taken note that NIM declined by 0.05% in H2.
With strong full-year results, management declared a final fully franked dividend of $2.40 per share, up from $2.10 a share the prior year.
Which is part of the reason the CBA share price underperformed in August. The stock traded ex-dividend on 16 August, which saw shares close the day down 3.6%.
