NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Apple  (AAPL) - Get Report are gaining, higher by 0.87% to $127 in early market trading Monday, after analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald upped its price target on shares of the iPhone maker to $180 from $160 this morning.

The firm's new price target equates to a $1 trillion market capitalization.

The firm maintained its "buy" rating. Analysts believe the market will reward the tech giant with a higher price-to-earnings multiple due to Apple's future innovation, entrance the watch category, and its commitment to returning cash to shareholders.

Cantor Fitzgerald analysts added that a web TV service could be a "stepping stone" for Apple to launch a full TV product.

The firm also noted that the company's iPhone portfolio and position in China have "never been stronger."

Similarly, analysts at Cowen raised their price target on Apple to $135 from $115 with an "outperform" rating on shares this morning. 

Bank of America/Merrill Lynch increased Apple's FY15 iPhone unit estimate to 220 million from 210 million, and maintained its "buy" rating with a $140 price target.

Cupertino, CA-based Apple designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, as well as a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and applications.

Insight from TheStreet's Research Team:

Apple is a core holding of Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. During the most recent weekly roundup, this is what Jim Cramer, Portfolio Manager & Jack Mohr, Director of Research - Action Alerts PLUS had to say about the stock:

Shares traded higher this week. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is planning to launch a Web TV service in the fall. Given Apple's growing TV ambitions over the past several years, combined with its announcement last week to offer HBO NOW in April, we believe an Apple TV streaming service will soon become a reality, as the WSJ article suggests.

In our view, Apple is paving the way for grander ambitions in the TV market, as we believe ordering channels a la carte with HBO NOW, or in smaller bundles through a streaming TV service, will be the way of the future. There's no question that the current pay TV model remains antiquated, expensive, over-bundled and in dire need of sweeping changes. Apple remains one of the few companies in the world that has the potential to truly transform the TV industry, and we believe that -- after nearly five years of whispers -- consumers are finally ready for a change. This week's WSJ article suggested Apple would announce the new service in June and launch in September with approximately 25 channels, including ABC, CBS and Fox. The article highlights a monthly price of approximately $30 to $40, above the $20 for Dish Network's (DISH) competing Sling TV product. Unsurprisingly, the article notes that Apple's streaming service would not only be available on Apple TV but across other Apple devices using the iOS operating system.

We believe last week's unveiling of HBO NOW was an appropriate precursor for announcing a streaming TV product. We believe the potential of these two offerings pave the path for even bigger ambitions for Apple with a full-blown TV that allows the company to control the user experience completely. We reiterate our $150 target.

- Jim Cramer and Jack Mohr, 'Weekly Roundup' originally published 3/20/2015 on ActionAlertsPLUS.com.

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Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates APPLE INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate APPLE INC (AAPL) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and notable return on equity. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook." You can view the full analysis from the report here: AAPL Ratings Report