Google Shares Hit $700 For 5-Year High [HOLD for David Z…don’t move]

Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine and maker of Motorola phones, set a five-year record high abobe $700, slightly more than eight years after the Mountain View, Calif., company's initial public offering that raised $1.67 billion.

Google shares Friday hit $706,47 in early trading.

At current prices, Google's market capitalization is about $230 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable companies. Rival Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, is valued at $634.3 billion.

On Thursday, Google shares set a record price of $699.89. The surge means they've risen 8 percent in 2012 and nearly 34 percent in the past 52 weeks. Since the IPO, their return has been 545 percent.

Shares of Google last traded above $700 in December 2007.

The company's shares are controlled by co-founders Larry Page, 39, the current CEO, and Sergey Brin, 39, as well as former CEO and current Chairman Eric Schmidt, 57.

Only a handful of companites trade at the same level. The best-known is Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire-Hathaway (NYSE: BRK/A), around $129,000; Seaboard Corp. (NYSE: SEB), around $2,200; NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR) at $850 and LICT Corp. (Pink: LICT) at $2,150. Earlier this year, Priceline Inc. (Nasdaq: PCLN), traded as high as $774 before dropping down to around $605.