Apple shares touch a fresh all-time high on Friday, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch raise their targets for the tech giant

Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL) registered a record-high close on Friday, after Goldman Sachs and BofA Merrill Lynch raised their price targets for the stock.

Apple shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on Friday. The stock went up 1.40% ($2.15) to $156.10, after touching an intraday high at $156.42 and also a fresh all-time high. In the week ended on May 14th the shares of the technological company added 4.79% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a fourth consecutive period of gains and also the best performance since the week ended on February 5th. The stock has extended its advance to 8.67% so far during the current month, following a mere 0.01% decrease in April. The latter has been the first monthly retreat since November 2016. For the entire past year, Apple Inc’s shares gained 10.03%.

Goldman Sachs raised its target for Apple from $164 to $170 on expectations of the first $1 000 iPhone. Analyst Simona Jankowski projects that iPhone 8 to be presented in two variations – a model with 128 GB capacity at a price of $999, and a model with 256 GB capacity at a price of $1 099.

At the same time, BofA Merrill Lynch raised its target for the tech company from $155 to $180. Analyst Wamsi Mohan now projects Apple’s earnings per share for 2019 to be at $12.54, a revision up from $12.06, as expected previously. According to Mohan, the company has been successful in driving high-end electronics categories and has shown higher growth than original expectations on a consistent basis in the past.

In addition, due to its considerable net cash of $158 billion, Apple would be able to “easily enter most markets” via mergers and acquisitions.

According to CNN Money, the 38 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $160.00, with a high estimate of $185.00 and a low estimate of $120.00. The median estimate is a 2.50% surge compared to the closing price of $156.10 on May 12th.

The same media also reported that 29 out of 44 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 10 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Apple stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $156.26
R2 – $156.42
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $156.58
R4 (Long Breakout) – $157.06
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $157.62
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $157.87

S1 – $155.94
S2 – $155.78
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $155.62
S4 (Short Breakout) – $155.14
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $154.58
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $154.33

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $153.85
R1 – $158.67
R2 – $161.24
R3 – $166.06
R4 – $170.88

S1 – $151.28
S2 – $146.46
S3 – $143.89
S4 – $141.32