Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) has seen huge growth since 2012. Its board of directors wants to keep this growth going with its most recent move. The company announced that the board authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $4.0 billion of Celgene’s common stock.

This new program is effective immediately. Celgene has a total of roughly $5.2 billion remaining from previous authorizations, plus the new authorization. Since 2009, Celgene has returned approximately $12.3 billion to shareholders through the repurchase program.

This is one of the Wall Street’s top picks for this year, as many analysts feel it has solid upside potential for 2015 and an outstanding partnered pipeline. Some think the company can grow earnings 20% or more this year and in 2016. The company recently provided strong guidance surrounding its Otezla launch and encouraging feedback from doctors on the potential of new triplet regimens in myeloma. Many on Wall Street see the company working to diversify away from the flagship product through the emerging inflammation and immunology franchise, as well as a rich pipeline of alliances.

Recently, a few analysts have weighed in on Celgene:

• Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating with a $146 price target.
• BMO Capital Markets has a Buy rating and set its price target at $163.
• Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating with a $156 price target.

Shares of Celgene closed Tuesday relatively flat at $111.11, in a 52-week trading range of $79.42 to $129.06. In early trading Wednesday, the stock was up 1% to $112.21. The consensus analyst price target is $137.15 and the market cap is $89 billion.

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