Google breaks $300

The shares of Google, the internet search leader, finished trading today above $300 and closed at $304.10, up $6.85. Google now has a market capitalization of $84.5 billion making it the 23rd largest U.S. corporation just ahead of Home Depot and just behind PepsiCo Inc.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Google's ascent has defied skeptics, whose lack of interest in Google's unusual "Dutch auction" IPO last August forced the company to lower its offering price to $85. Since then, Google's stock has more than tripled, compared with a 2% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and 1.2% rise for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index.

In spite of a P/E ratio above 120, many Wall Street analysts still have a "buy" or "strong buy" rating on the stock. Mark Mahaney, who follows the company for Smith Barney, has posted a target price of $360 on it.

Shortly after Google went public last summer, I told many clients I thought the stock was going to $50. It's starting to look as though I might need to revise my forecast.