{
  "id": 3850503,
  "title": "Marathon Petroleum chief legal officer Molly Benson sells $6.17m in stock",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/marathon-petroleum-chief-legal-officer-molly-benson-sells-6-17m-in",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-28T00:16:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/insider-trading-news/marathon-petroleum-chief-legal-officer-molly-benson-sells-617m-in-stock-93CH-4880373"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Marathon Petroleum Corp, Molly R. Benson, sold 17,196 shares of the company's common stock worth around $6.17 million on August 17, 2026. The shares were sold at a price of $358.57 per share, in line with a pre-approved Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by Ms. Benson on May 15, 2026. Marathon Petroleum's stock is currently trading near its 52-week high of $367.60, having delivered a 106% return over the past year. Investment analysis suggests the stock is fairly valued at its Fair Value of $348.62. Prior to these sales, Benson had acquired 17,196 shares via employee stock options, exercising them at a price of $47.73 per share, equating to approximately $820,765. These transactions resulted in Benson directly holding 30,334.3328 shares and indirectly holding 88.355 shares through her 401(k) Plan, including shares acquired through dividend reinvestment. Marathon Petroleum's second-quarter 2026 earnings surpassed expectations, with $17.73 earnings per share on $52.34 billion in revenue, outperforming analyst forecasts of $12.94 per share and $41.16 billion in revenue. The company's strong performance was attributed to robust operations, favorable market conditions, and disciplined crude sourcing, leading to adjusted EBITDA of $8.5 billion. Freedom Broker upgraded Marathon Petroleum's stock rating from Sell to Hold, citing strong refining margins and operational execution as key factors, with a price target raised from $217 to $297.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Molly Benson sold $6.17m worth of Marathon Petroleum stock on August 17, 2026",
    "Shares sold at $358.57 each under pre-approved Rule 10b5-1 plan",
    "Benson holds 30,334.3328 shares directly, 88.355 indirectly"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The sale of $6.17 million in Marathon Petroleum stock by the chief legal officer signals a possible shift in executive confidence, despite the company's strong recent performance and upgraded stock rating.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}