million, technology and communication costs of $0.8 million and employee compensation and benefit costs of $0.8 million, mainly due to an increase in headcount. Occupancy costs in the third quarter of 2018 include duplicate expense recognized during thebuild-out phase of the Company’s new corporate offices in New York. The duplicate expense had the effect of increasing total expenses by $1.9 million and reducing diluted EPS by $0.04.
Other income increased to $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2018 from $0.6 million in the third quarter of 2017 due to a $0.7 million increase in investment income as a result of higher investment balances and an increase in interest rates.
The effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2018 was 19.3%, compared to 27.7% for the third quarter of 2017. The third quarter of 2018 income tax provision reflected $1.7 million of excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation awards and a $0.4 million reduction to the provisional tax charge recorded in 2017 in connection with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The third quarter of 2017 income tax provision included $3.8 million of excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation awards.
Dividend
The Company’s board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.42 per share of common stock outstanding, to be paid on November 21, 2018 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 7, 2018.
Share Repurchases
A total of 31,500 shares were repurchased in the third quarter of 2018 at a cost of $6.1 million.
Balance Sheet Data
As of September 30, 2018, total assets were $646.1 million and included $446.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments. Total stockholders’ equity as of September 30, 2018 was $578.6 million.
Guidance for 2018
The Company is updating its full year 2018 overall effective tax rate guidance to a range of 21.0% to 22.0%, down from the previous guidance of 23.0% to 25.0%. The reduction is primarily due to excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation awards that were exercised during 2018.
The Company expects that full year 2018 expenses will be near thelow-end of the $220.0 million to $232.0 million guidance range. The expense guidance includes duplicate occupancy costs of approximately $7.0 million for the Company’s new corporate offices in New York during thebuild-out phase.
The Company also expects that full year 2018 capital expenditures will be near thehigh-end of the $43.0 million to $50.0 million guidance range. The capital expenditure guidance includes approximately $26.0 million of buildout costs for the new corporate offices.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Items
To supplement the Company’s unaudited financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), the Company uses certainnon-GAAP measures of financial performance, including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) and free cash flow. The Company believes that thesenon-GAAP financial measures, when taken into consideration with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, are important in understanding the Company’s operating results. See the attached schedule for a reconciliation of GAAP net income to EBITDA and GAAP cash flow from operating activities to free cash flow.
Webcast and Conference Call Information
Richard M. McVey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Antonio L. DeLise, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call to discuss the Company’s financial results and outlook on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. To access the conference call, please dial855-425-4206 (U.S.) or484-756-4249 (international). The Company will also host a live audio Webcast of the conference call on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at http://investor.marketaxess.com. A replay of the call will be made available by dialing855-859-2056 (U.S.) or404-537-3406 (international) for one week after the announcement. The passcode for replay callers is 3998335. The Webcast will also be archived onhttp://investor.marketaxess.com for 90 days following the announcement.
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