Apple's Stock Leads Dow Gainers After Analyst Boosts Price Target

Shares of Apple Inc. surged 0.8% in morning trade Monday, enough to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average's gainers, after Morgan Stanley raised its price target, to be the third highest among the 44 analysts surveyed by FactSet. The stock's price gain of $1.23 was adding about 8.5 points to the price of the Dow's, which was down 14 points. Analyst Katy Huberty bumped her price target up to $182 from $177. The new target is 21% above current levels, 12% above the average target of the 44 analysts surveyed by FactSet of $162.12. When Apple reports on Aug. 1, Huberty expects the company to provide a "weaker-than-consensus" outlook for its fourth quarter ending in September, because of the slightly later iPhone launch than typical--October shipment rather than the usual September. But that delay "creates a dynamic of much better-than-normal December and March quarter seasonality, providing an attractive set up for the stock looking beyond the September guide," Huberty wrote in a note to clients. The stock has rallied 5.9% over the past three months, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has climbed 8.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.8%.