The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is slipping in afternoon trade.
CBA shares are currently down 0.6%, after moving 0.5% higher in early morning trade.
With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) up a slender 0.1% at time of writing, there's no clear reason for the slide in CBA shares.
Likely the modest retrace we're witnessing today – and witnessed yesterday when CommBank closed the day down 0.6% – comes as investors take some profits off the table following Friday's record close.
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What helped drive CommBank to a record high on Friday?
After struggling to overcome the long-lingering fallout from the banking Royal Commission, followed by an environment of plunging interest rates, the stars are beginning to realign for CBA shares and the other big banks.
Today, they're flush with a lot more cash than the minimal levels they're required to hold by law. And a lot of that money is expected to find its way back into investors pockets, either by way of increased dividend payments or potential share buybacks.
As Reuters reports:
Australia's big banks are likely to return a record $15 billion or more of cash to investors over the next two years, with investors betting Commonwealth Bank… will move first and helping drive shares of the top lender to all-time highs.
How have CBA shares performed?
Friday saw CBA shares close at a new record high of $102.52. That came after the share price hit a new record intraday high of $102.64 earlier in the day.
Yesterday CommBank closed down 0.6%, to $101.93 per share.
Currently trading at $101.30, CBA shares are currently down 1.1% from Friday's all-time closing high.
Taking a step back, longer-term shareholders will have little to complain about, with the share price up 40.4% over the past 12 months, more than twice the 18.8% gains posted by the ASX 200 over that same time.
