Apple Inc. (AAPL) Breaks Market Cap Record As Stock Surges To All-Time High After Series Of Upgrades

Apple shares surged nearly 2 percent on Thursday to $113.20, setting a new all-time high with a market cap of $662.2 billion for the most valuable company in the world. The company’s stock also set a new closing record at $111.25 on Wednesday.

The price spike comes following a number of analysts raising their target price for the company this week, such as UBS analyst Steve Milunovich and analysts at Bernstein, according to the Street. UBS raised its target price for Apple to $125, based on evidence of the company’s staying power in China, where the company is said to maintain an 84 percent retention rate among its users, Bidness Etc reported on Wednesday.

The previous market cap record for Apple was set in September 2012, when the company’s market cap neared 658 billion. In comparison, Google maintains a market cap of $375.86 billion while Microsoft’s market cap sits at $406.33 billion.

Thursday also marks the day Apple will pay out its quarterly dividend of 47 cents per share to shareholders of record as of market close on Nov. 10.

The company's stock price surged in October following a report of better-than-expected earnings from its September quarter. Apple expects between $63.5 billion and $66.5 billion in revenue in its first fiscal quarter for 2015.