There's little doubt that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is one of the most popular ASX shares on our share market. Its status as the ASX's largest bank, and, for a few brief periods, the ASX's largest share by market capitalisation, no doubt helps. As would the fact that CBA has more Australian customers than any other bank.
CBA has had a pretty good run lately as well. The ASX 200 bank share is up a healthy 4.31% year to date in 2022, which looks pretty good against the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s loss of 3.7%. The CBA share price is also up 11.5% over the past 12 months, and just this month, hit a new 52-week high of $109.20.
But size, past performance and popularity don't automatically translate into a good investment going forward. So now that we are almost at the end of the year, should CBA shares be in your ASX stocking this December?
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Are CBA shares a perfect ASX stocking stuffer?
Well, expert opinions are a little mixed.
One broker who is optimistic about CBA is Macquarie. Last month, we covered some changes Macquarie has made to its model portoflios.
One notable one was the decision to swap out Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) for CBA shares. Macquarie now views CBA as the "quality choice within the banking sector" and a better bet than ANZ right now.
However, Will Reggall of Climate Capital isn't convinced. As my Fool colleague covered this week, Riggall reckons Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares are both looking more appealing than CommBank right now.
That's due to CBA's "high price" and the success Westpac and NAB have had with "executing growth and transformation strategies".
Earlier this month, we also covered the views of brokers at Wilsons. Wilsons has trimmed its exposure to all ASX banks in favour of lithium share Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN).
This broker cites what it views as peaking net interest margins, as well as slowing credit growth and rising costs, in explaining its waning enthusiasm for bank shares.
So mixed views on CBA shares leading up to Christmas. But with this week's new 52-week high, shareholders have already gotten an early Christmas present from Commonwealth Bank.
