The largest U.S. companies are hoarding tremendous amounts of cash at present, in many cases borrowing to do it, according to a new study by REL Consulting.

The 1,000 largest public companies in the U.S. had $853 billion of cash reserves at the end of 2010.

Cash reserves have risen by over 6% since 2009, by 33% since 2008, and by nearly 75% since 2005.

Excluding the financial sector, companies on the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index are holding a cash pile of $1.15 trillion, according to S&P's research unit Capital IQ. The industries hoarding the most were technology ($264 billion), pharmaceuticals ($141 billion) and energy and consumer products (each holding more than $100 billion). Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Pfizer and Google had the deepest cash cushions.

One reason the companies have this much cash on hand is that revenue for the top 1000 companies improved by 11.5% in 2010, after declining by 12.1% in 2009.

High profits are not the only reason for this buildup as borrowing is also a significant factor. For AAA-rated companies total debt has increased by more than 30% over the past five years. According to the research, companies may be borrowing to get cash on their balance sheets simply because the cost of borrowing is low.

Improvement in working capital management  is not a major factor in rising cash levels. Companies' ability to collect from customers, pay suppliers, and manage inventory improved by only 2% in 2010, on the heels of a major deterioration in 2009.

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