jquery setting value of textbox not working with '*'

I have a textbox with the value being updated via jquery and ajax. The value being retrieved will sometimes have an * in it. When the value has the * in it, nothing is being put in the textbox. When I debug it, it shows that it retrieved the correct value, so I know that part is working correctly. How can I tell jquery to put in the exact string? For example, the result might be 216.* and I need that in the textbox. Thanks for your help.