American Companies with the Most Cash

10. Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM)
> Cash and short-term investments: $17.80 billion
> LTM revenue: $434.82 billion
> LTM earnings: $45.10 billion
> Market cap: $402.97 billion
> Yield: 2.50%

Exxon is definitely sitting on a lot of cash, but it will not do so forever. Earlier this year, the company announced it would spend $37 billion a year over the next five years to find and develop new sources of energy around the world. The company also has been returning much of its cash to shareholders. In April, Exxon announced it was raising its quarterly dividend to 57 cents a share, and it has surpassed AT&T (NYSE: T) as the top corporate dividend payer in the U.S. based on total payout to shareholders, paying out $10.75 billion annually. Until Apple’s recent meteoric stock price rise, Exxon was the most valuable company in the world as measured by its market cap.

9. WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP)
> Cash and short-term investments: $20.31 billion
> LTM revenue: $61.54 billion
> LTM earnings: $2.52 billion
> Market cap: $ 19.47 billion
> Yield: 1.90%

WellPoint has hit a rough patch recently, with second-quarter earnings below the previous year and below analyst estimates. Shares of the health insurer have fallen by 4.05% in the past year. Former CEO Angela Braly stepped aside at the end of August following concerns by major shareholders such as Omega Advisors and T. Rowe Price Group that the company’s performance was lagging, according to the Wall Street Journal. With the remaining implementation provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care set for the next few years, the near future will be a telling time for the direction of the company as to whether it can provide fair returns to shareholders after it covers riskier patients with its plans and is forced to compete in insurance exchanges. However, flush with more than $20 billion in cash, there is not much need to ring the alarm bells yet regarding the company’s future performance.

Also Read: America’s Most Hated Industries

8. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX)
> Cash and short-term investments: $21.46 billion
> LTM revenue: $230.56 billion
> LTM earnings: $26.63 billion
> Market cap: $220.07 billion
> Yield: 3.20%

With a cash pile of more than $21 billion, Chevron has more cash on hand than any other energy company in the country. While the public corporation claims that it is just trying to build a cushion in the face of volatile energy prices, similar to companies such as Exxon Mobil, The Wall Street Journal reported in August that experts believe Chevron is in prime position to acquire other energy companies. Notably, the collapse of natural gas prices has hit some energy companies very hard, making them attractive takeover targets. Companies that have been discussed as ripe for takeover include Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) and Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES).

7. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN)
> Cash and short-term investments: $22.48 billion
> LTM revenue: $16.39 billion
> LTM earnings: $3.84 billion
> Market cap: $64.68 billion
> Yield: 1.70%

Amgen has been successful lately. In the most recent full quarter, the company’s revenue rose 13% while earnings rose 34%, compared to the same quarter in 2011. The company also raised its earnings and revenue guidance for 2012. Shares of the company have increased 54.68% in the previous 12 months. The world’s largest biotechnology company has used its earnings to accumulate cash. Amgen has not been sitting on those reserves. In April, the company agreed to acquire KAI Pharmaceuticals for $315 million in cash and Mustafa Nevzat for $700 million. The company has also announced a dividend of 36 cents a share for the third quarter of 2012, which was paid out on Sept. 7.

6. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
> Cash and short-term investments: $24.34 billion
> LTM revenue: $64.86 billion
> LTM earnings: $10.22 billion
> Market cap: $178.22 billion
> Yield: 3.70%

With more than $24 billion of cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet, Pfizer has a larger sum of these on hand than any other nontechnology company in the United States. In the most recent full quarter, the company’s revenue declined by nearly 9% to $15.06 billion from $16.49 billion from a year ago. The world’s largest pharmaceutical company lost patent protection on its former best-selling drug, cholesterol lowering medication Lipitor, and began competing with much cheaper generic versions of the drug. Nevertheless, thanks to lower costs, the company earned $0.43 a share, better than the $0.33 cents a share from a year ago. Shares of Pfizer have risen 30.51% in the past year.