Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) did not make the biggest splash in the world after its WWDC event last week. Still, despite the criticism, Apple shares keep rising. The stock hit a new 52-week high of $651.26 on Friday, but closed down less than $2.00 at $645.57. This high is within about $50 of that 2012 all-time high north of $700. And analysts keep raising their price targets on Apple.

Of course, much of the excitement was about the impending stock split. That split took effect after the close of trading on June 6.

24/7 Wall St. has been unable to ignore just how many analysts have increased their price targets on Apple. There have been very few formal upgrades on the stock, but price targets are being raised. And now those targets will have to adjust for that seven-for-one split.

Several capital allocation programs hit at once with Apple’s last earnings report. The company announced that its board of directors raised the cash dividend by approximately 8% to $3.29 per share. That will generate some $2.8 billion paid out in quarterly dividends to common shareholders.

Apple further went on to increase the share repurchase authorization from $60 billion to $90 billion. This move raised the total capital return program from $100 billion to more than $130 billion. What is important to note here is that Tim Cook said that the company plans to execute this increased capital allocation plan by the end of December 2015.

And the seven-for-one split of its common stock was targeted as follows: “Effective at the close of business on June 6, 2014, shareholders of record will receive six additional shares for each share held on June 2, 2014.”

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Barron’s featured an article referring to analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald. His note was that a souped up smartwatch from Apple could generate an extra $4 in earnings per share.

On June 5, Apple was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $685 from $610 at BMO Capital Markets. There were many other calls in recent days as well.

Apple shares were reiterated with a Buy rating and the price target was raised to $710 from $660 by Canaccord Genuity. The analyst there believes that the WWDC takeaways and its May wireless surveys are all pointing to Apple being very well positioned for a strong iPhone 6 upgrade cycle.

Credit Suisse maintained what might be considered a cautious Neutral rating after the WWDC event, but the firm raised its price target to $600 from $560.

Dan Niles, the former top Apple analyst who became a tech portfolio manager, said on a CNBC appearance this last week that the WWDC event actually had nothing of any real meat for investors. Still, the stock rose.

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, who is now considered one of the top analysts for Apple, also appeared on CNBC late last Monday. He did talk up Apple’s prospects. Munster has a Buy rating and a $730 price target.

Goldman Sachs also raised its price target for Apple to $720 from $635 right at the end of May. The firm thinks that Apple’s next big thing is not hardware but an iOS platform differentiation, with the next hardware refreshes acting as an added earnings driver.

Argus recently maintained its Buy rating but raised its price target on Apple to $700 from $610, after the purchase of Beats for $3 billion.

Wells Fargo had also recently maintained its Market Perform rating, but the firm did lift its implied price target range to $595 to $640. The firm’s prior range was $515 to $585.

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The long and short of the matter is that Apple’s consensus price target keeps ticking up. Still, Apple shares are now trading above the $642 consensus analyst price target. The stock split is going to create an interesting trading scenario — perhaps one in which investors decide to take some profits.

The shares are now at $645.57, versus $564.62 the day after the split was announced, and versus $521.84 right before the announcement. The investors in the stock before the split announcement are up more than $120, and the investors who piled in even after the news are up more than $80 per share.

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