NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Google (GOOG) - Get Report (GOOGL) - Get Report has long held out on paying shareholders a dividend, citing the fact that having lots of cash on hand allows the company to be nimble and competitive. Investors and analysts are beginning to get a bit antsy, though, and pressure is rising for Google to return some cash to shareholders.

In a research note Thursday morning, SunTrust's Robert Peck wrote that he estimates Google to have about $10 billion (about $14 per share) in "hidden assets," thanks to acquisitions, Google Ventures and Google Capital. In total, Google has about $64 billion in cash, having generated $6 billion in operating cash flow and $3 billion in free cash flow in just the fourth quarter alone.

"We estimate Google's investment arms, Google Ventures (including itsUberstake) and Google Capital, account for >$7.5B of potential value," Peck wrote. "Adding in Google's 2014 asset acquisitions (which also have de minimis P/L impact) and hair-cutting by 50% to account for goodwill, takes the total 'hidden asset' value at Google to ~$10B."

These hidden assets add value to investors and provide some promise of a future reward, possibly in the form of a dividend or share buyback.

"Management indicated on the 4Q call that they are focused on shareholders, which could imply less spending or potentially a return of capital, like a dividend program or share buyback," Peck wrote.

The average large-cap tech company tends to offer about a 2% dividend, which would be about $10 per share in Google's case. In order to afford that, Google would need about $7 billion in cash to distribute, which shouldn't be too challenging for the company.

During the fourth-quarter earnings call, Anthony DiClemente of Nomura asked Google executives if they would consider capital returns. Google CFO Patrick Pichette shied away from giving an explicit answer, but did admit that Google was constantly evaluating share price.

"I just can reiterate the same message that I give on a regular basis, which is share price does matter," Pichette said. "It matters to our board. It matters to all of us. We're all shareholders in the company. And we do review this issue on a regular basis. We review it again responsibly with the Audit Committee, with the board. And I just have nothing to announce today."

While Apple (AAPL) - Get Report began paying a dividend in 2012, Google has held out on paying dividends at all. Many believe that Google opts out of dividends so that it can instead invest in new ventures like driverless cars and Google Glass. R&D is expensive, as are acquisitions. Nonetheless, investors and analysts are optimistic that Google will one day pay out a dividend.

Back in December 2014, RBC Capital Markets analysts wrote in a research note that Google may start paying a dividend to shareholders. RBC noted that Apple began paying a dividend when it reached about $100 billion in cash, and that Google was on its way toward that number. Thus Google might mimic Apple's move and pay a dividend.

Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner was of the same opinion, writing that Google will have more than $100 billion in cash and cash-like securities by the end of 2016. That cash could best be used as a dividend or for share buybacks, since much of the cash was earning less than 1% a year. He wrote that it would be embarrassing if Google doesn't return any of the money by the end of 2016.

Clearly that didn't happen in the fourth quarter, but maybe things could change next time around. At least that's what Chris Ciaccia predicted back in December with his 2015 tech predictions.

Google did not reply to requests for comment by press time.

--Written by Rebecca Borison in New York

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