AAPL Closes at New High

Apple’s stock shares closed the market on Thursday at US$276.57, marking a new record closing price for the Mac, iPhone and iPad maker.

The company’s stock climbed $6.35 on Thursday, and was still climbing in the Friday morning pre-market trading hours.

Apple’s market cap has hit $252.66 billion, pushing past the likes of Microsoft ($219.19 billion), IBM ($163.55 billion), Google ($153.32 billion), Intel ($105.62 billion) and Wal-Mart ($193.28 billion).

Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf recently raised his target price for Apple’s stock from $280 up to $375 based on stronger than expected Mac and iPad sales. UBS analyst Maynard Um expects strong iPad sales will continue through 2011 and is projecting 28 million units sold in 2011.

Apple is currently trading in the pre-market at $278.10, up 1.53 (0.55%).