Apple (AAPL) Shares Top $700 After Hours

They didn’t quite get there before today’s closing bell rang, but Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares have finally topped $700 for the first time in history.

After threatening to top $700 all day, the shares got there within minutes of the market’s close. The stock closed regular trading at $699.80 per share.

The stock rose 1.2% today to bring its total return since unveiling the iPhone 5 last Wednesday to just under 6%.

After a slow start in the hours after the iPhone was introduced, AAPL shares are now on track to get their usual post-iPhone/iPad announcement push. The stock has averaged an 11% pop the last three times the company revealed a new high-profile gadget.

At $700 a share, Apple joins an elite group of stocks to have ever reached such a lofty share price. That group includes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) and The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO). Google just re-crossed the $700 threshold after a nearly five-year absence.

Most analysts think Apple shares aren’t done growing.

The stock’s mean one-year target estimate, according to Yahoo! Finance, is $757 a share. That would require another 8% increase.

Considering the stock just jumped 6% in the three days since the company introduced a new iPhone that many said lacks a “wow” factor, another 8% boost seems realistic.

So while it’s impressive that Apple shares just topped $700, what’s more impressive is that the stock is somehow showing no signs of slowing down.