Rockwell Automation Shares Pare Friday's Gains As Schneider Electric Denies Rumor Of Interest

Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) shares dropped on Monday after Schneider Electric denied rumors about the possibility of a takeover of the company.

On Friday, rumors suggested that Schneider Electric was targeting Rockwell Automation for a potential acquisition. The price quoted for the acquisition was about $18 billion compared to current market cap of about $15.51 billion. Some analysts viewed the deal as attractive, thus boosting the credence for the rumors.

As a result, the stock gained 6.9 percent during the intra-day trading on October 21 before closing with a gain of 4.22 percent. The volume also jumped to 6.6 million from the preceding day's 828,300 shares.

According to a Bloomberg report, Schneider acquired Invensys for approximately $5.2 billion a few years back. Since then, it has been improving its business with investments and expansions.

However, Stifel analyst commented that a deal for Rockwell was quite "unlikely."

Rockwell disclosed that it would not comment on speculations or rumors, especially in the wake of possible actions or the intentions involving other companies.

At last check, Rockwell was down 2.89 percent at $119.44.

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