Apple crests $700 a share, breaking records and posting a valuation over $656 billion

It turns out that the new iPhone is so boring that investors have sent Apple’s stock to an all-time high today in after-hours trading, pushing the company over the $700 per share mark. The company’s new iPhone 5 broke sales records, moving 2 million units its first 24 hours on the market.

In regular trading on the day, Apple closed at $699.80, up over $8, or just over 1%. At the time of writing, this is where Apple stands:

Where does this put Apple’s market cap? Over $656 billion dollars. Assuming that Apple opens tomorrow in normal trading at its current levels, the records will be codified for all investors. You’re having a good day, Apple owners. According to MacRumors, Apple is up $270 per share in the last 9 months, a hefty percentage gain.

For fun, where does this put in comparison to Microsoft? At this point, Apple is worth well over two full Microsoft’s, taking Redmond’s valuation as a unit of measure. The Redmond-based software giant is worth some $261 billion.

Is Apple’s market valuation bananas? Keep this in mind: the company’s price/earnings share is under 17. And according to Yahoo Finance, its PEG is under 1. Apple isn’t particularly richly valued. It’s just rich.