A Fund’s Cogent Sale: A Tale of Wires and Worry

Now, listen here. On the 17th of February, in the year of our Lord 2026, a certain 14B Capital Management – a name that sounds suspiciously like a government agency, don’t you think? – saw fit to unload a sizable chunk of Cogent Communications Holdings. Some 279,633 shares, to be precise, amounting to around $8.25 million. A considerable sum, enough to buy a small town, or at least a very fine collection of pocket watches. It appears they decided that the future of high-speed wires wasn’t quite as shiny as it once seemed.

What’s Been Happening

This 14B outfit, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission – a place where truth goes to hide, if you ask me – divulged they’d trimmed their Cogent holdings during the last quarter of 2025. Eight and a quarter million dollars worth of shares found new homes. And the remaining stake, well, it shrank in value by a further $13.58 million. A bit like trying to hold water in a sieve, wouldn’t you say? Trading and price changes, they call it. I call it the market having a bit of a wobble.

More to the Story

  • After this little shedding of shares, Cogent Communications now accounts for only 2.95% of 13F assets under management. It’s fallen outside the fund’s top five holdings, a bit like the shyest boy at the dance.
  • Their top holdings, you ask? Well, they’re putting their money on the usual suspects:
    • NYSE:MA: $24.30 million (19.5% of AUM)
    • NYSE:V: $24.29 million (19.5% of AUM)
    • NYSE:FOUR: $24.24 million (19.5% of AUM)
    • NASDAQ:STNE: $9.01 million (7.2% of AUM)
    • NYSE:PAGS: $7.02 million (5.6% of AUM)

    Seems they’re betting on folks swiping cards and moving money, rather than the backbone of the internet itself.

  • As of February 16th, 2026, Cogent shares were fetching $26.46 apiece. A sorry state of affairs, considering they were worth a good deal more just a year ago. The S&P 500, meanwhile, has been merrily chugging along, gaining about 20%. A reminder that even the sturdiest of wires can fray.

A Look Under the Hood

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $975.8 million
Net Income (TTM) ($182.2 million)
Dividend Yield 10%
Price (as of market close 2/13/26) $26.46

What Cogent Does, You Ask?

  • Cogent Communications provides the high-speed internet access, private networks, and data center space that keep the modern world spinning. They operate across the globe, from here in North America to the far reaches of Africa.
  • They make their money by connecting businesses and organizations, providing the digital highways for everything from emails to video streams.
  • They cater to a wide range of customers, from small businesses to large corporations, and everyone in between.

Cogent, you see, is one of those companies that quietly keeps things running. They’re the folks who make sure your cat videos load quickly and your online shopping sprees don’t encounter any hiccups. It’s a vital service, and one might think it would be rewarded accordingly.

What This Means for You and Me

Now, this Cogent business is worth a bit of pondering. It’s a niche that powers everything from company networks to the flow of data around the world. Their shares have taken a beating this past year, and these latest results explain why. They reported around $975.8 million in service revenue for 2025, down from just over a billion a year earlier. Profitability did improve, even as revenue softened, with adjusted EBITDA reaching $76.7 million and margins expanding to nearly 32%. But they still posted a $182 million loss, not much better than the $204 million loss a year before. On the bright side, they did pay four quarterly dividends in 2025, totaling $3.05 per share. A small comfort, perhaps, in a world of shrinking returns.

Within the portfolio, this reduced stake sits well outside the largest holdings, which lean heavily toward payment networks like Mastercard and Visa, alongside fintech platforms such as Shift4 and StoneCo. That contrast is telling. Payments and fintech represent higher growth opportunities, while Cogent is more of a mature infrastructure play. It’s a bit like betting on the next shiny gadget versus the dependable old workhorse. Both have their place, but only one is likely to make you rich quick.

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2026-03-13 00:52