After the market closed today VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

VeriSign, Inc. reported revenue of $182 million for the first quarter of 2011, up 2% from the prior quarter and up 12% from the same quarter in 2010.

Verisign reported net income attributable to Verisign stockholders of $41 million and earnings per share attributable to Verisign stockholders of $0.24 on a diluted basis for the first quarter of 2011, compared to net income attributable to Verisign stockholders of $51 million and earnings per share attributable to Verisign stockholders of $0.28 on a diluted basis in the same quarter in 2010.

The operating margin was 36.1% for the first quarter of 2011 compared to 33.5% for the same quarter in 2010.

Financial Highlights

Verisign ended the first quarter with Cash, Cash Equivalents,Marketable Securities and Restricted Cash of $1.951 billion

Verisign Registry Services ended the quarter with approximately 108 million active domain names in the adjusted zone for .com and .net, representing a 9% increase year-over-year.

In the first quarter, Verisign processed a record 8.3 million new domain name registrations, representing an approximately 3% increase year-over-year.

Verisign ended the first quarter of 2011 with approximately 1,040 employees

In addition, Verisign announced that its Board of Directors declared a special dividend of $2.75 per share of its common stock. The special dividend will be paid on May 18, 2011 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 9, 2011. The ex-dividend date will be May 5, 2011.

ICANN has already opened for public comment a extension of Verisign’s  agreement to operate the .Net registry with plenty of rate increases guaranteed throughout.