As Apple Stock Challenges $700, BofA Raises Target to $850

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been all the rage for quite some time. Shares put in a new high close of $699.78 on Monday, which is just under that elusive $700 handle that very few companies have ever reached. Last night we saw that Apple was marginally trading above the $700 mark in the after-hours session.

The obvious hype here is the iPhone 5 and the orders having reached 2 million units in just 24 hours. There has still been no formal word of that Apple TV that analysts and Apple fanboys have been talking about for months and months.

Apple shares are trading marginally lower this morning by only about $1.00 as the market is soft. One analyst call stood out as Bank of America/Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating. The firm raised its price target objective to $850 from $770 listed previously. We would note that the Thomson Reuters official price target objective this morning was about $757. BofA also raised earnings targets for the fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

BofA cited healthy initial demand and a faster than expected global roll-out for the iPhone 5.

S&P futures are down by about 2 points and Nasdaq futures are down almost 3 points so far this morning.

Apple shares are down at $698.35 in active premarket trading.

JON C. OGG