While analysts weren’t bullish on Apple last year, with many holding the belief that the company’s stock had seen better days, Fortune reports that Apple’s 7-for-1 stock split and stock repurchase plan is changing the way those same analysts are viewing the company’s stock.
In recent weeks, analysts have adjusted their price targets by as much as 30 percent, with prices now ranging from a low of $87 from Morningstar’s Brian Collelo up to a high of $124 from Stephen Turner of Hilliard Lyons. With the recent upgrades, the analysts’ average price targets are now above Apple’s all-time high once the stock split is accounted for.
Some of the optimism stems from new U.S. wireless carrier plans that are expanding the number of customers eligible to upgrade to Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6, and those same carrier’s new leasing options for handsets.
Plans, such as T-Mobile’s no-contract Simple Choice plan, allow customers to pay for a phone in installments with a low upfront cost. That plan, and similar plans from other U.S. carriers, also allow early upgrades for equipment.
