Johnson & Johnson was the third stock I added to the Own Every Stock Portfolio a couple years ago and it has generated a nice return so far.  I also added more shares of JNJ with the cash I received with the cash buyout  of Mentor Corporation (another company that was in the portfolio) by Johnson & Johnson.  In addition to its share appreciation, JNJ has a long history of big dividend increases.  In fact, since 1975, the company has raised its yearly dividend by more than 10% every year with 4 exceptions still averaging well over an 8% increase.  Long term shareholders of JNJ have also seen the number of shares they hold compound with 5 stock splits over the past 25 plus years.  Johnson & Johnson's most recent stock split came in 2001 when the stock split 2 for 1.  In addition, JNJ also had 2 for 1 stock splits in 1996, 1992, and 1989, while in 1981 the stock split 3 for 1.  From the stock splits alone, 100 shares of JNJ purchased before 1981 would have grown into 4800 shares today and this doesn't even account for dividends.

More recently, JNJ has seen its stock rally from its March low of $46.25 to a new 52 week high of over $65 last week.  Even with the recent gains, the stock is trading at pretty fair valuation with a PE around 13 to 14, depending on whether you choose to use the forward or trailing price earnings ratio.  JNJ is also yielding a very respectable 3% from its current dividend payout, and barring an unforeseen disaster, one can expect another dividend increase before its second dividend payment in 2010.  The chart below demonstrates the consistency of Johnson and Johnson's dividend increases since 1975.  All dividends have been adjusted for stock splits.

Year	Yearly Dividends          Paid	Year over Year     Increase	Year	Yearly Dividends          Paid	Year over Year     Increase
1975	$0.0177		1993	$0.2525	13.48%
1976	$0.0219	23.73%	1994	$0.2825	11.88%
1977	$0.0292	33.33%	1995	$0.3200	13.27%
1978	$0.0354	21.23%	1996	$0.3675	14.84%
1979	$0.0417	17.80%	1997	$0.4250	15.65%
1980	$0.0464	11.27%	1998	$0.4850	14.12%
1981	$0.0532	14.66%	1999	$0.5450	12.37%
1982	$0.0606	13.91%	2000	$0.6200	13.76%
1983	$0.0672	10.89%	2001	$0.7000	12.90%
1984	$0.0734	9.23%	2002	$0.7950	13.57%
1985	$0.0797	8.58%	2003	$0.9250	16.35%
1986	$0.0859	7.78%	2004	$1.0950	18.38%
1987	$0.1006	17.11%	2005	$1.2750	16.44%
1988	$0.1200	19.28%	2006	$1.4550	14.12%
1989	$0.1400	16.67%	2007	$1.6200	11.34%
1990	$0.1638	17.00%	2008	$1.7950	10.80%
1991	$0.1925	17.52%	2009	$1.9300	7.52%
1992	$0.2225	15.58%

In addition to its exceptional dividend history, Johnson & Johnson is also sitting on over $14 billion in cash which puts in a good position to make key acquisitions when the right opportunity arises.  Moving forward I like the long term prospects of JNJ stock and I expect it to continue to earn a steady return for the Own Every Stock Portfolio.  Of course, my opinion shouldn't be viewed as a recommendation and a person should complete their own due diligence before purchasing any investment.