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Microsoft, Alphabet Top Cash-On-Hand Field; Apple Dominates Overall

Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft continue to hoard cash. (© Andy Dean/stock.adobe.com)

Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL) led the S&P 500 with the most cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter, helping set a 10-year record for companies in the stock index.

Microsoft had a cash balance of $105.6 billion at the end of Q1, while Alphabet followed at $75.3 billion, research firm FactSet reported. They were followed by General Electric (GE) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).

Apple (AAPL), often cited as having the largest cash hoard of them all, is actually No. 5 on the list at $55.3 billion. But when long-term securities are added, Apple does top the field with a whopping $233 billion in treasure. No. 2 with the most short- and long-term cash is GE, at $129.7 billion. It's followed by Microsoft at $116.9 billion, and Alphabet at $80.8 billion.

Short-term investments consists of marketable securities that can easily be converted into cash. They include common stock, certificates of deposit and other liquid assets that can be sold or redeemed within a year. Long-term securities have a longer time horizon.

Companies in the S&P 500, excluding financial firms, ended Q1 with cash and short-term investments of $1.45 trillion, up 5.7% from Q1 2015 and the largest total in at least a decade, FactSet said.

The information technology sector maintained the biggest cash balance -- $603.8 billion -- which has been the norm for the index. It was followed by health care and consumer discretionary.

One of the ongoing trends in the S&P 500 has been less spending on capital expenditures and more spending on shareholder distributions, which includes stock buybacks and dividends. Looking at gross share buybacks, dividends and fixed capital expenditures in Q1, shareholder distributions rose about 7% year over year, while capital expenditures fell 7.6%. Apple led the field in shareholder distribution at $9.3 billion.

The aggregate cash balance of companies in the S&P 500, excluding financials, has continued to grow, but so too has the amount of debt. In fact, growth in aggregate debt has outpaced that of cash.

During the first quarter, debt grew to $4.2 trillion for the index, which represented a 9.9% year-over-year increase and a 3.3% uptick from Q4. The Q1 debt total marked the largest aggregate debt level in at least 10 years, FactSet said.

Microsoft stock notched up 2.1% to 49.44 at the close on the stock market today, amid an overall rebound after two days of a Brexit-inspired breakdown. Apple stock was up 1.7% to 93.59, while Alphabet stock gained 1.5% to 691.26.