Rethinking Apple’s price targets

The current high target, $264, was set on air Tuesday by Mad Money’s Jim Cramer. But he’s more showman than analyst — even if he did trigger a 6.71 point (3.83%) rally the next day. (See here.)

Now more serious analysts are in the awkward position of having to follow Cramer without looking like Mad Money dittoheads.

The situation is especially uncomfortable for those with positive recommendations and targets — many set months ago — that are still well below the stock’s current price. It’s a surprisingly distinguished group that includes, according to AAPLinvestors,

• Thomas Weisel’s Doug Reid ($150)
• Think Equity’s Vijay Rakesh ($150)
• FTN Equity’s Bill Fearnley ($155)
• J. P. Morgan’s Mark Moskowitz ($167.50)

[An earlier version of this post included Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig  in this list. That was my error.]

The highest targets on record, not counting Cramer’s, are those from RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky ($250) and Needham’s Charles Wolf ($235).

The lowest, $90, set back in February by Calyon Securities’s Shelby Seyrafi, is at least consistent with Seyrafi’s “underperform” rating.

Below: the full list of 45 analyst ratings tracked by AAPLinvestors.