Apple Stock Target Upped To $150 At Mizuho

Shares of Apple inched 0.3% higher after Mizuho Securities increased its 12-month price target on the stock to $150 from $135. The brokerage, which has a buy rating on the stock, said checks with suppliers prompted a more than 10 million-unit increase in their 2017 production estimates. They're now calling for 225 million units to be manufactured this year, compared with an estimate of 213 million units previously. That implies an 11% year-over-year increase. Mizuho said it believes the 10th anniversary iPhone due in September, which is expected to feature some more notable upgrades compared with recent predecessors, could sit well with the company's large installed base of outdated phones and lead to a strong upgrade cycle. The average rating on Apple stock is the equivalent to buy, while the average price target is $142.65. Shares of Apple traded around $137.07 in late-morning trade. They've increased 22.6% in the past there months and 41.5% in the past year, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a 30-member index of which Apple is a member. The Dow is up 8.7% in the past three months and 25% in the past year.