New Mountain Investments, a private equity firm that helped transform Deltek from a family-owned business to a publicly held company, has been picking up shares of the Herndon, Va.-based software company again. On May 27, New Mountain exercised options and purchased 11.4 million shares at $3 per share, for a total cost of $34.5 million. On June 2, it exercised options on 4.1 million shares, again at $3 per share for a cost of $12.4 million. Those are by far the largest transactions since the investment firm sold $3.9 million shares at $18 per share for $69.8 million on Nov. 6, 2007 following Deltek’s initial public offering. New Mountain acquired a majority ownership position in Deltek in April 2005 from the DeLaski family, in a recapitalization that occurred prior to the IPO. New Mountain’s Web site notes that it is supporting Deltek management’s growth strategy. Maybe New Mountain thinks the stock is a good deal. It closed at $7.14 per share yesterday, up from $6.33 a couple of weeks ago as it got an upgrade in the recommendation from a stock analyst at Barclay's Capital. The reasoning reported for analyst Israel Hernandez's recommendation was that Delkek's business, with a major portion in serving architects and engineers, will rise as part of a cyclical economic recovery.