Piper Jaffray Upgrading Cognex Corp. (CGNX)

Piper Jaffray is upgrading shares of Cognex Corp.  CGNX to Overweight from Neutral, and is raising its price target to $34.

In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "CGNX has pulled back 24% since it reported on February 11th. We had been concerned that the company needed to increase opex and street estimates were becoming overly optimistic for CY11. Operating expenses for Q4 increased by 12% over the prior quarter. The company is investing in engineering talent to accelerate new product development and in salespeople in high growth regions, particularly China. We now believe the air has come out of street estimates and the shares have priced in a more realistic outlook for CY11 earnings. Moreover, we believe investments made this year along with the new products already introduced will drive a pick up in growth in CY12. We  upgrade to OW and increase our price target to $34."

Shares of CGNX gained 1 cent yesterday to close at $26.81.