Apple’s market value jumps to $600 billion

Apple's market value hit $600 billion on Tuesday, with analysts predicting that the tech giant's shares will reach $1,000 by 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Apple's share value reached as high as $644 a share, which put the entire company's value at $600.4 billion, according to the Associated Press. The stock closed at $628.44, down 1.2 percent from the day before and putting it's value back below $600 billion.

Apple is widely considered to be the most valuable company in the world. 

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Only one other company has ever been worth that much money: Microsoft. It's market value hit a high of $619 billion on December 30, 1999, the AP reported, and hovered above $600 billion for 13 trading days. Microsoft is now worth about $255 billion, according to the AP. 

Apple reported record-breaking profits for the last quarter of 2011 in January, BBC News reported, and it revealed it had $97.6 billion in cash at the end of last year. The ever-popular technology company's stock value has increased 58 percent in 2012, roughly doubling in value since last June, according to the Journal.

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The company recently announced it plans to share billions of dollars in profits with shareholders, and issued its first dividend in more than a decade, paying $2.65 per share, the Journal reported. Apple has also said it will buy back as much as $10 billion in stock over the next three years.